Web of Lies
by Inksaber
Summary: Sequel to After the Storm. Ahsoka Tano is training to master her newfound power, with the help of an unexpected ally. Meanwhile, Anakin battles with the darkness inside himself and Sidious has a plan for them both...
1. Secrets in the Temple

**I do not own Star Wars, sadly.**

**Here is the sequel to After the Storm. It would make more sense to read that first, obviously, and before you do that, watch the Mortis trilogy of Star Wars the Clone wars. There. Now you will get what this fic is about. Enjoy!**

He lived constantly in a war zone. Where blasterfire streaked repeatedly past your head and the enemy was always coming up with a new way to kill you. He had learned to expect anything.

But the last thing Anakin Skywalker was expecting at that moment was to find himself flying across the room at a speed approaching terminal velocity.

Anakin saw stars as his head made contact with the wall and he lay stunned on the ground for a moment. He got slowly to his feet and glared at his apprentice, who's eyes were dancing with laughter and triumph.

"Finally!" Ahsoka grinned. She deactivated her lightsabers and smirked at him.

"No fair," Anakin protested. "I said no Force use for this round!"

Ahsoka shook her head. "Master, do you really think the _Sith_ are going to listen to your rules? In a battle with the Sith, anything goes. You have to be prepared for anything."

"Well, I'm not a Sith," Anakin grumbled. But, as much as he hated to admit it, Ahsoka was right.

"If I may say so, Jedi Anakin," said the droid at Ahsoka's side, "You may have been a trace overconfident."

Anakin scowled at the droid. "Do you like your head?" he asked evenly.

"Do I have a reason not to?" 448 replied.

Anakin decided not to answer that. "Keep talking and I might be tempted to cut it off."

"Master!"

Anakin faced Ahsoka. "Remind me why we need him."

Ahsoka folded her arms. "Because he can be trusted, he is a good spy, and the Council says we could keep him around."

"The Council doesn't know most of what we do lately," Anakin reminded her. "I'm not even supposed to be training you right now."

Ahsoka looked around at the abandoned storage room in the lower levels of the Temple that they were using as a training room. "I don't understand why the Council won't let me train to strengthen my Force connection," she said. The Daughter gave me that power for a reason, yet the Council forbids me from using it."

Anakin's mind flashed back to that day...

_Anakin could feel the Council's stares on him and Ahsoka._

_Yoda nodded. "Stronger, you are, Padawan. A good thing, this may not be."_

_Ahsoka looked at the old Jedi Master quizzically. "What do you mean, Master?"_

_"A target, you will become for the Sith, if use this power, you do." Yoda said. "Too young for this, you are."_

_Anakin stared at the Master in surprise. "Master Yoda, with all due respect, the Sith do know of Ahsoka's power. Do you really think they will just forget about her if she stops using it? She should be trained to a higher level so she is ready when they attack again."_

_Mace Windu shook his head. "Padawan Tano is not ready for this. Perhaps when she is older."_

_"If she isn't trained, she may not live to get older," Anakin argued._

_But the Council was firm. _

_"Final, our decision is, Skywalker," Yoda said._

_Anakin and Ahsoka bowed and left the Council Chambers._

_"I'm going to train you myself," Anakin said when they were far enough away from the Council Chambers._

_Ahsoka looked up in surprise. "What?"_

_"I'm serious," Anakin said. "The Sith will try to get you again, Ahsoka, I'm sure of it. I intend to make sure you are ready."_

_A small smile appeared on Ahsoka's face. "I should have known that the second we were out of there you would completely disregard everything they said."_

Now, nearly a month later, Anakin had to admit that they hadn't made much progress. He had been training her between missions, but he hadn't seen anything close to what he'd witnessed from Ahsoka on Serenno and they were both getting frustrated.

"Master?"

Anakin glanced down at Ahsoka.

"Artoo just said someone is coming. We should get out of here."

Anakin nodded. He and Ahsoka quickly straightened up the storage room and stepped out into the corridor where R2-D2 was standing watch. After a few seconds, Anakin could hear a set of footsteps rapidly approaching. This part of the Temple was hardly ever used, but Healers came down occasionally for medical supplies from the many storage rooms.

"_Run_," he hissed to Ahsoka. It would look suspicious if two droids, one a battle droid and two Jedi were found in a little used part of the Temple, and it seemed the Council never ran out of things to accuse Anakin of.

The Jedi ran for the lift tube at the end of the corridor, the droids trailing behind. Anakin winced at the sound of metal against metal as 448 clanged along behind them. He used the Force to levitate the droid and set him down in the lift tube.

Both Jedi breathed a sigh of relief as the lift tube carried them up and away from their secret.

"That was way too close," Ahsoka stated.

"This isn't working, Snips," Anakin said. "Either we are going to have to do this away from the Temple, or stop altogether."

The Padawan frowned. "Won't they be more suspicious if we leave the Temple every night?"

"Not necessarily," Anakin said. "I used to leave the Temple all the time to go to the Coruscant underground and search for droid parts..."

To late, he realized his mistake. Ahsoka's eyes lit up.

"Really?" she asked. "What was it like?"

"Forget I ever said anything," Anakin replied. The lift tube stopped and he stepped out. He turned back to Ahsoka. "If I ever catch you doing anything like that, I'll leave you at the Temple for a month."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Relax, Master. I have no desire to end my life early. I've heard what's down there at night."

"I'll find somewhere to train you," Anakin said, bringing them back to more pressing matters. "In the meantime, why don't you get some rest? You've earned it."

His words earned a scowl from his Padawan, but she nodded and left.

Anakin looked out the window at the glittering lights of Coruscant.

_Why isn't Ahsoka progressing? I know she can do better. _He had seen it. Was he somehow holding her back? Ahsoka had said herself that she didn't know what was wrong. He just knew that there was no way she was going be able to face Dooku again with her skills as they were. He needed to train her better.

Her life depended on it.

**This story is still in the planning stages and ideas are welcome. Please reveiw!**


	2. Suspicions and Dreams

**Thanks for the reveiws!**

Ahsoka walked through the halls of the Temple, lost in thought. She was beginning to get frustrated with the Force. She supposedly had all this great power and she couldn't even use it! It was almost like being under that Force-suppressing poison again, only this time she was aware of what was going on.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. Suddenly another Padawan appeared at her side.

"Hello, Zett," Ahsoka greeted him coolly. Next to her, Zett Jukassa was the most promising Padawan in the Temple, but they were more rivals then friends, hardly ever speaking. She had heard rumours that his Master had been killed in battle and he was confined to the Temple for the moment.

"How is life in the field?" Zett asked, his manner of speaking civil, though Ahsoka could sense a bitter undertone. "Though I suppose you wouldn't know, as you seem to be spending an increasing amount of time in the Temple. One might wonder what you find to do with all your extra time."

Ahsoka began to wonder if Zett had suspected she was training against the wishes of the Council. Could it have been him that had almost caught them in the lower levels?

"I was sorry to hear about your Master," Ahsoka said, hoping to steer them away from a potentially dangerous conversation.

Zett's eyes softened for a moment. "Thank you. But there is no death, only the Force. I must move on." He regained his composure and continued his interrogation. "Speaking of Masters, you seem to spend a lot of time with yours."

Ahsoka once again sensed danger. "Why the interest, Zett? I would think you have better things to do with your life than question me about mine."

"Not since my Master's death took me out of battle!" Zett shot back.

Ahsoka suddenly knew what was going on. Zett was hoping to take some news back to the Jedi Council, and hopefully get noticed. What better way to do that then to get his rival in trouble?

"This conversation is over," Ahsoka said as she reached her quarters. She shut the door and sat on her bed. Great. Now she had a troubling secret, a problem with her Force connection, and a nosey Padawan on her case. What next?

She was on Mortis- again.

And again Ahsoka was watching herself battle her Master. She must have had this dream every night since she first found out what happened, but it never lessened. Anakin didn't know. She didn't want to worry him, and she _knew_ he would worry. So, every night, she was forced to relive the worst experience of her life. It was a nightmare that she could never wake herself up from.

Suddenly, halfway through the battle, the landscape shimmered, then disappeared, along with the duelling Master and Padawan.

Ahsoka blinked in surprise. This had never happened before! A new landscape took it's place, one that Ahsoka had never seen before. The ground was rocky and the sky was dark. There was no one around for miles... except for...

Ahsoka gasped. It was the Daughter.

The Daughter's appearance had changed from the last time Ahsoka had seen her. She wasn't glowing anymore, and an aura of sadness hung around her.

"You have accomplished much, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "But you are far from finished."

"I'm dreaming," Ahsoka told herself. "I have to be dreaming."

"You are indeed dreaming," the Daughter said. "But I can communicate with you through dreams."

"But why now, and not when I first discovered my power?" Ahsoka asked. "What makes now any different?"

"I am afraid your Master's suspicions are correct," the Daughter told her. "The Sith are after you."

"Dooku just doesn't quit," Ahsoka murmured.

"It is not the Count who seeks you."

Ahsoka shivered at the warning the Daughter's voice seemed to hold. _The second Sith?_ "What makes me different, milady? Several Jedi in the Temple are way more powerful than me, yet the Sith target me. And you gave your life for me. Why? I'm just a Padawan who happened to get the Chosen One as her Master!"

"You are much more than that, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "It was not an accident that you and your Master were paired together. The Force works in mysterious ways."

_So do you, _Ahsoka thought. _I don't think I've heard one straight answer from you. _Aloud, she said, "What do you mean?"

"You do not realize it, but you have the power to save your Master from a horrible fate," the Daughter said softly.

Ahsoka frowned. "He is the Chosen One, is he not? Will he not bring balance to the Force as the Council believes?"

"A darkness lives in your Master," the Daughter said. "He may bring balance to the Force... if he is not consumed by that darkness first."

Ahsoka was growing aggravated at these insults to Anakin. "He is a hero of the war, and the best Master in the Temple," she defended. "Sure, he can be reckless. But he never loses."

"A battle with the dark side is often lost," the Daughter said solemnly.

Ahsoka decided it was time for a change of subject. "I've been having... troubles lately with my Force connection. On Serenno, I felt so in tune to the Force; now I can't come anywhere close to that."

"This has to do with your Master as well," the Daughter said.

Ahsoka was startled. "What? How? All he's done is help me reach a higher level!"

"You have unique Force connection, Ahsoka. The power you received is a curse as well as a blessing. You can only be trained in the ways of the light side, as that is the path that I walked."

"I don't understand," Ahsoka sighed. She was getting a headache from all these mysteries. "Anakin _is_ training me in the light side. Who do you think he is, a Sith?"

"Ahsoka, the same dark tendencies that keep your Master on the edge of the dark side prevent him from training you correctly," the Daughter said. "If you are to protect yourself from the Sith and save your Master, you must allow me to train you in the ways of the light side. Your Master will continue to strengthen your combat skills. "

_I'm going to be trained by a spirit in my dreams to defeat a Sith I wasn't sure existed?_

"You can really train me... in my dreams?"

"Yes," the Daughter said, "But you can tell no one. You cannot even tell your Master."

"Why not?" Ahsoka asked warily. She knew from experience that secrets hidden by either of them was a very bad idea. But if the Daughter thought he was too dark to train her, then it made sense she wouldn't trust him.

"Your Jedi Council can't find out about this. I have told you far to much about events already. If word of this gets out, it may ruin everything."

Ahsoka shook her head, not even trying to comprehend what that meant. "Anakin doesn't get along with the Council. He would keep quiet if I told him why. And he hates secrets."

The Daughter smiled slightly. "I'll have you know now, young one, the Chosen One has more secrets than the Temple has Jedi."

Ahsoka was alarmed to see the Daughter begin to fade. "Whats going on?"

"It appears you are waking up," came the distant reply.

Ahsoka nodded. Then she remembered something. "For a long time now, I've been having dreams... I'm watching myself battle my Master and handing your brother the dagger. How can I make them stop?"

"You still hold guilt over the events that transpired then," the Daughter said softly. "In order to embrace the future, you are going to have to let go of the past..."

She vanished, taking the dreary surroundings with her.

Ahsoka awoke to see sunlight streaming through her window. She sat up and pressed her hand against her forehead as everything the Daughter had told her came rushing back.

The Sith really were after her.

Her Master was too dark to train her.

And she was going to talk nightly with a dead person.

Her first thought was to go tell her Master, then she remembered the Daughter's words. _Tell no one._

If she disobeyed those orders, the Daughter might take back her promise of training her. Ahsoka closed her eyes in frustration, then got up and opened the door, hoping to take a walk to clear her mind- only to find 448 standing there.

"Jedi Ahsoka, your Master wishes to speak to you," the droid said. Ahsoka cringed. She had been hoping she would have some time to think of a cover story in case Anakin suspected she was keeping something from him.

Following 448 out in to the hall, she remembered what the Daughter had said about Anakin and secrets and thought, _at least he's taught me one thing: the art of keeping secrets. _For some reason, this didn't make her feel any better.

**This chapter was hard to write, that's why it took a while. Reveiws make the updates faster! *Hint hint***


	3. The Works

**Thanks for all the reveiws! I got an amazing 14 reviews for that last chapter!**

The first thing Ahsoka noticed when she entered the Temple hangar was the quiet but heated argument Anakin and Obi-Wan had engaged in. Curious, she moved closer.

"... I agree with the Council on this, Anakin," Obi-Wan was saying. "She isn't ready."

Ahsoka blinked. Did Obi-Wan know Anakin was training her?

"Right," Anakin said, sarcasm colouring his tone. "She only survived captivity by Dooku, very nearly lost her life, and sent Dooku running so she could be told 'she isn't ready'. No other Padawan in the Order has faced Dooku and come out of it alive."

"I seem to remember this is the same Sith Lord that took your arm. Ahsoka is very lucky she didn't have worse happen to her."

"So, you think that the only reason Ahsoka got out of there alive was because of luck?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, I never said-"

Ahsoka quickly stepped forward before the either of them could say another word. "You wanted to see me, Master?"

Obi-Wan stepped back. "Stop training her, Anakin. That's all I ask. I will not tell the Council of this."

After the Jedi Master had left, Ahsoka turned to Anakin. "How did he find out?"

Anakin shook his head. "Apparently, he's suspected for a while."

"I ran into a suspicious Padawan yesterday as well," Ahsoka said. "And if he does find out, he _won't _hesitate to tell the Council."

"Well then it's a good thing we won't be doing this at the Temple anymore," Anakin said.

"You found somewhere?"

Anakin nodded. "There's a bunch of abandoned buildings in The Works district. We won't be bothered there.

Ahsoka hesitated. "Master, The Works is all factories. There will be a lot of workers around, wouldn't you think?

"Like I said, a lot of it is abandoned." Anakin shrugged. "It'll be fine."

"If you say so," Ahsoka said dubiously. Abandoned buildings on the far side of Coruscant just spelled trouble to her.

It was dusk by the time Anakin and Ahsoka got away from the Temple. Anakin had noticed that Ahsoka had been extremely quiet all day, and brought it up as he landed the speeder outside the abandoned factory.

"Are you alright?"

It was a simple question, but Ahsoka slammed mental shields up around her thoughts so tight that Anakin couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. He was slightly impressed at the strength of her shields.

"I'm fine," she said stiffly.

Anakin shook his head, she was obviously not fine, but before he could enquire further, she stopped dead.

"Do you sense it?"

It took him a second to realize what she was talking about, but then he noticed it as well.

The dark side was strong here.

Ahsoka glanced uncertainly at Anakin.

"Let's go in," he said. "But stay alert. We don't know what's in there."

The inside of the factory was dusty and dark. The dark side was stronger inside; it filled the place with a sense of dread.

Ahsoka looked back at Anakin. "_This_ is your perfect training place?" she asked incredulously. "I think I'll take my chances in the Temple!"

"The Temple's environment is too secure," Anakin told her, but in truth, he was doubting his choice as well. "You won't be fighting a Sith in a light area where a hundred Jedi can come to your rescue if things go wrong."

Ahsoka still looked uneasy, but she activated her lightsabers and engaged him in a spar.

For a while, the only noise was the sound of humming lightsabers and their footsteps. It soon became clear that Ahsoka's mind was elsewhere.

"Snips?" Anakin was getting worried.

Instead of answering, Ahsoka abruptly deactivated her lightsabers. "Can't you sense that?"

Anakin was now exasperated. "Ahsoka, the dark side is everywhere. You have to learn to think past it."

Ahsoka closed her eyes. "No... there's someone else in here."

Anakin stared at her. "What?"

Ahsoka's eyes snapped open and she sprinted toward the the door at the other end of the space.

"Ahsoka- wait!" Anakin's words had no effect whatsoever. He followed her through the door just in time to see the tip of a black cloak disappearing around the far corner of the corridor.

Ahsoka exchanged a glance with Anakin, then took off after the figure.

"How did you know he was here?" Anakin called to Ahsoka as they navigated the passages that made up the factory.

Ahsoka tossed a surprised look over her shoulder. "How did you _not _know?" she retorted. "I could feel him in the Force like a glowing laser sign."

Anakin hadn't felt anything. He had been the one lecturing her about being more aware when he was the one who had brought them to this place, fully aware of the darkness it held. Were they chasing a Sith? What was he doing in an abandoned building on a republic planet?

The two Jedi rounded another corner, to find that the figure had completely disappeared.

Anakin reached out with the Force to see if he was still around, but there was nothing.

This person, whoever he was, was extremely good at hiding his identity.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling noise. Anakin looked up to see the ceiling cracking above them. Barely a second later, it caved in entirely.

"Come on!" he yelled to Ahsoka. The rumbling increased to a roar as the whole building began to collapse. Anakin knew they weren't going to make it out before that happened. All he could do was use the Force to try to keep himself from being crushed. He felt Ahsoka doing the same, and suddenly felt an incredible surge in the Force.

Anakin nearly lost his grip on the Force as he glanced at Ahsoka. Her face was a mask of concentration as she held up the ceiling with the Force. Anakin could only stare at his Padawan as she radiated light, even as darkness fell down around them...

Darth Sidious watched the building collapse in the safety of the old LiMerge power building a short distance away. Skywalker and his Padawan would get out, of that, he was sure. This was nothing to them, they had been through far worse. He had been drawn to the old factory when he had felt a disturbance in the Force so close to his Sith hideout. To find Tano and Skywalker using the abandoned building to practice had been a shock, even to Sidious.

Interestingly enough, it seemed the girl could not control her Force power. Dooku had made it sound like Tano knew exactly how to use it. That was a lie, the Padawan wouldn't know power if it bit her.

Then he felt it. It was so strong, he wouldn't have been surprised if every Force user on Coruscant had felt it. A very powerful surge in the light side.

And he knew exactly where it had come from.

Ahsoka Tano was going to wish she hadn't made it out of there alive.

**I will explain... but not yet. Please reveiw!**


	4. Questions

**Thanks to all the people who have reveiwed so far! :D**

Anakin used the Force to lift the slab of wall that pinned him to the ground and stumbled out from under the wreckage. The air was thick with dust and he could barely see five feet in front of him.

Ahsoka appeared at his side. "I guess I shouldn't have gone after him after all."

Anakin blinked at her. "Do you have a clue what you just did?"

"Hey, I didn't know he was going to topple the building!"

Anakin stared. Had she seriously forgotten about her display of Force power? "No, not that. Snips, for the last month, you've shown no spectacular Force power, now suddenly you can keep a _building _from landing on our heads!"

Ahsoka glanced at her hands. "Stress, maybe?" she suggested. "The same thing happened on Serenno, and the weapons factory on Gavern. I've heard of cases where a Padawan's power grows in desperate situations. I seem to have a magnified version of this."

"We have a new problem," Anakin said suddenly. He remembered how strongly he had felt Ahsoka's outburst of power. Surely the Jedi at the Temple would have felt it as well. He explained his thinking to Ahsoka.

The Padawan went pale. "I never thought about that. I should be able to control this!"

"It isn't your fault," Anakin assured her. "But we should probably get out of here before the Council sends a clone squad out to look for us."

Getting out of there took longer than Anakin expected. When they arrived at the spot where the speeder should have been there was nothing but a pile of rubble. A few minutes of looking found it with it's front end buried under a fallen wall, thrown there by the force of the factory collapsing.

The two Jedi used the Force to move the wall. They righted the speeder and studied the crumpled front end.

"Will it start?" Ahsoka questioned.

"I guess we'll find out," Anakin said.

The speeder shuddered, but the engine started all the same. As Anakin flew them away from The Works, he said to Ahsoka, "If anyone asks about the damage to the front end, tell them we crashed it in an escape from bounty hunters, OK?"

Ahsoka shook her head in amusement.

Miraculously, they arrived at the Temple with no further trouble. As they entered the main hall, Obi-Wan approached them. He took in their filthy clothes and dust caked faces.

"I don't even want to know," he said, shaking his head. "But Yoda would like to speak with you. He is waiting in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, so I suggest you hurry and clean up."

Anakin exchanged a look with Ahsoka, then they separated to change. Anakin had the displeasure of running into 448 on the way back to his quarters.

The battle droid regarded him. "What in the galaxy happened to you? You looked as if you had a building dropped on you!"

"I did," Anakin said easily, brushing past 448. "Remind me to thank the Sith who did it."

448's face remained as blank as ever, but he made up for it with the frustration in his voice.

"You and Jedi Ahsoka. If there were ever an event at the Galactic Games for the most reckless, hardheaded Jedi ever, you'd both be going for gold!"

...

Yoda looked up as Anakin and Ahsoka approached him. They both bowed respectfully, though Ahsoka was frantically thinking of an excuse for their whereabouts for the night.

Yoda looked directly at her. "Padawan Tano. Stronger you are, though no training you have received."

_Is that a question or a statement? _Ahsoka wondered.

She shifted on her feet. "Master Skywalker can still train me on a normal level, right? I can't go through this war with next to no training."

Yoda nodded. "Normal training, you still require. Advanced Force training, which sense from you, I do, you cannot have."

_How does he know?_ Ahsoka managed to keep her expression neutral. "With all due respect, why do you think my Master is training me at an advanced level?"

Yoda held her gaze. "A disturbance in the Force there was," he said slowly. "Sensed you were the cause, I did."

Thankfully, Anakin chose that moment to step in. "Master Yoda, we have recently discovered that Ahsoka can use this power in emergency situations. Nothing more. This was the disturbance you sensed."

There was a short silence while Yoda took in this information. "Emergencies how?"

Anakin and Ahsoka traded looks.

"She saved several people trapped in a collapsing building," Anakin said, not mentioning it was them who had been trapped in that building.

Another silence. Finally Yoda raised his head. "Meditate on this, I will," he said. "Dismissed, you are."

Ahsoka and Anakin bowed again and left the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

"Well, it could have gone worse," Anakin commented.

Ahsoka was silent. Keeping these secrets, lying to everyone someway or another, was tearing her apart. "I don't know how much longer I can do this," she said, half to herself. "I hate secrets."

Anakin glanced at her, and knew immediately what she was talking about. "You're going to be glad you did this, Ahsoka. When the Sith show themselves again, you'll be glad."

Ahsoka could only hope he was right.

...

_"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?"_

_Instead of answering the Youngling's question, the shadowy figure ignited his lightsaber and stepped forward..._

_A young man with long shaggy hair stepped into the jail cell, looking slightly in awe at the __young woman before him. "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!"..._

_A hooded figure bent over the hologram. "The time has come. Execute Order 66."_

_"It will be done, my lord," replied the person in the hologram..._

_The hall was filled with the sound of breathing... harsh breathing, like someone using a respirator. A tall figure appeared at the end of the corridor. The term 'being' didn't do him justice. 7 feet tall, dressed entirely in black, with a monstrous mask, the figure strode confidently down the hall, bringing closer the promise of death..._

And then it was gone. Ahsoka turned, looking for the monster, but he was no where in sight. Instead, standing behind her was the Daughter.

"What was that?" Ahsoka asked her, still feeling shaky. "It was like a vision...or many visions, but it was all mixed up!"

The Daughter bowed her head. "All three of the Force wielders on Mortis had the ability to see the future, Ahsoka. I had been hoping you would be spared that gift."

Ahsoka stared at her. "All that was the _future?_ What does it mean?" She shook her head, trying to clear it of the images of her Master and the Youngling. _I didn't see that, that didn't happen...or won't happen..._

"Remember, Ahsoka, the future is always is motion. Nothing is set in stone."

_I should hope not, for the galaxy's sake..._

"Who was that... thing?"

"I cannot tell you," the Daughter said. A hint of sadness crossed her face, but disappeared instantly. "We shall begin your training now."

"Wait," Ahsoka said. "The Jedi are already suspicious. Will they not be able to sense you?"

The Daughter smiled faintly. "Do not worry. In many ways, I _am_ the Force. They will suspect nothing."

Ahsoka nodded. "I'm ready."

Ahsoka thought she understood the Force. She was about to find out she was wrong on many counts...

**Well, you took a few minutes out of your day to read this chapter. Can you take a minute more to reveiw?**


	5. Dark Plans

**Thanks to everyone who reveiwed!**

The Daughter began pacing back and forth. She abruptly glanced up at Ahsoka, looking thoughtful. "Your mind is full of conflict," she stated.

Ahsoka nodded. "All my life, I've been taught that secrets are dangerous and a path to the dark side, but now I'm being told that I have to keep secrets so I'm not destroyed by the dark side."

"You are going to be tested in life, young one," the Daughter said. "Secrets are indeed dangerous... if you do not know how to handle them."

Ahsoka still felt unsure.

"Clear your mind, Ahsoka. The type of training I am about to show you requires a clear head."

Ahsoka obediently closed her eyes and tried to calm her whirling mind. Slowly, the fog of confusion in her head cleared and she looked up at the Daughter.

The spirit nodded. "Let us begin. I understand you can already block the deadly Sith lightning."

Ahsoka shook her head. "I don't know if I could do it again. And besides, Anakin is less than willing to use the dark side to help me with that."

There was a hint of amusement in the Daughter's voice. "There are two kinds of Force Lightning. One requires use of the dark side, making the lightning more painful. The second is known as Electric Judgement, and as it is a power of the light side, it does not kill enemies, it merely saps their energy."

"I've never heard of it before," Ahsoka said. She supposed it was for a good reason; such power could lead to darker feelings.

"You are correct," the Daughter said, reading her thoughts. "Only your Jedi Council and few others know of its existence. This power is easy to misuse."

Without warning, the Daughter sent a round of Electric Judgement toward Ahsoka. Startled, the Padawan hurried to call on the Force to deflect the green lightning, but she was too off guard and the lightning broke through her defences, knocking her down. Ahsoka got to her feet, feeling stunned.

The Daughter saw her expression. "It is impossible to get it right all the time, but you must not let your guard down." She tried again, but Ahsoka blocked it. A pleased smile came over her face. "You learn from your mistakes. That is a good thing."

Ahsoka eyed her warily. _I would love some Electric Judgement of my own right about now..._

She copied the Daughter's movements and reached out for the light side, imagining patterns of green light snaking outward and...

Ahsoka herself was the most surprised one there when the lightning flew forward in a graceful arc, lighting up the Daughter's shocked face. She quickly moved to block it.

"Good," the spirit said. "Very good."

"What next?" Ahsoka said, hiding her pleasure. She couldn't wait to see Anakin's face when he saw this... If she could show him.

"My Master should see this," she said.

The Daughter seemed to hesitate, then she said, "I encourage you to show him."

"What?" Ahsoka was slightly surprised. "I thought you said I couldn't tell anyone!"

"I said you couldn't tell anyone I am training you," the Daughter said. "You are getting stronger Ahsoka, and your Master, the person you spend the most time around, is going to notice. I advise you to show him what you learn here, he will think it is a result of his teachings and be none the wiser."

Ahsoka sighed and nodded.

The Daughter moved closer. "The Sith you were chasing in The Works has been alerted to your powers. You are on his mind again. The confrontation approaches."

Ahsoka swallowed hard. "Who _is_ the second Sith? Surely you know. If the Jedi know who he is, the war will be over that much quicker!"

The Daughter shook her head. "Ahsoka, this whole war is much more complicated than you think. The Sith will reveal himself in time, but until then, you must be prepared."

The landscape around them grew blurred, and the Daughter began to fade. Ahsoka knew she was waking up.

"One more thing," the Daughter said, now just a voice in a world of blackness. "The second Sith doesn't rest. Instead, he spends his time thinking and planning. He has waited a long time for this. Remember Ahsoka, the Sith never sleeps..."

Ahsoka awoke, the voice still repeating in her head. She didn't get up right away; instead, she lay there, thinking about her nighttime adventures. The first thing that came back to her was the visions of the future. The black clad monster, the strange order, and the young man who shared Anakin's last name. She would ask her Master about it, but as far as she knew, there were no other known Skywalkers in the galaxy.

_Execute Order 66..._

She had only seen a glimpse of it, but Ahsoka had a feeling that Order 66 was not a good thing. The hooded figure alone spoke volumes; beings wore hoods if they had something to hide.

And the Youngling... what had happened to him? She could only hope that her Master had activated his lightsaber to defend the Youngling against whatever enemy he had been fighting at the time, but something told her that was not the case...

_You have the power to save your Master from a horrible fate..._

If she thought about it, she would go crazy. Ahsoka got up and quickly changed. Then she left her quarters and headed for the library.

She ran into Anakin on the way there. Ahsoka knew Anakin hated to talk about his past, or anything related to it, so she knew it was not going to be easy to get information out of him. She decided to just get it over with. "Do you know if there is anyone in your family named Luke Skywalker?"

Anakin looked surprised. His face went blank, just like it did whenever she asked him a personal question and he shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

Ahsoka shrugged. "No reason. I just saw the name in a library terminal. It's not important." She silently congratulated herself on such a smooth lie, then mentally smacked herself as she remembered that was not something to be proud of.

There was nothing on Order 66 in the library, but Ahsoka figured that she wouldn't find any information on something that hadn't taken place yet. Perhaps only one person knew about Order 66, and that was the shadowy figure in her visions. Ahsoka could only wonder who he was, and what was in store for the galaxy.

...

Darth Sidious stood in his office, watching day rise over the skyscrapers of Coruscant. It disgusted him in a way, it reminded him of the light side that still remained of the Force, a light side that had gotten brighter over that last few days. With that _brat_ as Skywalker's Padawan, he would never achieve his goal of having Anakin as his apprentice.

A plan began to form in his mind. It was quite simple, actually. Skywalker relied on his friends for support. Without Kenobi, Tano and Senator Amidala, the young Jedi would have fallen a long time ago. Isolate Skywalker from his friends, break their trust in him, and his fall would be certain. Tano, whether she liked it or not, had learned the ways of the dark side from Skywalker. All she needed was for someone to unlock the gates to her anger.

But he would not rely on Dooku to do the job this time.

Sidious turned to face Mas Amedda, the Vice Chairman of the Senate and one of the only people in the republic who knew his secret.

"You will take over in the Senate, my friend," he said. "Inform the Senators that I am leaving tomorrow on an... important diplomatic mission."

"Yes, my lord," replied the Chagrian.

Sidious could not attempt this plan in the middle of the republic capital. No, he would go to a place more suitable to his liking. A planet so strong in the dark side, neither Skywalker or his Padawan would be able to resist the lure...

**Please reveiw!**

**Virtual cookie if you can guess the planet! **


	6. Battles

**Thanks for the reveiws!**

**I don't own Star Wars.**

Anakin found Ahsoka in the library, looking thoughtfully at a datapad.

"I thought you hated studying," he said, coming up behind her.

Ahsoka looked up in surprise. "Oh, I'm not studying... just doing research." She quickly returned the datapad to it's place.

Anakin cast her a suspicious glance. She was keeping something from him. But if he asked her, they would most likely get into a fight and he hadn't come here to argue.

"I found a new place to train you last night," he told her.

Ahsoka turned to look at him. "Do you ever sleep?" she quipped.

Anakin wasn't going to answer that. The truth was, he slept as little as possible at the Temple. Sleep brought dreams, and dreams brought trouble. "Very funny," he told her.

"Is this place in The Works?" Ahsoka asked warily.

Anakin shook his head. "It isn't far from the Temple. And if we're leaving the Temple, I think it would be best if we do this during the day."

Ahsoka scowled. "How do I let you talk me into these things?" she sighed.

Anakin matched her stare. "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

...

Darth Sidious looked up at the hologram appeared on his desk.

"I have a task for you," he said.

The figure nodded. "I don't have all day," he reminded the Sith.

"I want you to keep an eye on Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan."

Even in the hologram, the figure's expression was disgusted. "Do I look like a babysitter?" he asked. "I have better things to do with my time then spy on Jedi."

"Does half a million credits change your mind?" Sidious knew what kept this being going, and that was cash.

"The figure cocked his head, trying to conceal his interest in this job. "Surely you aren't paying me this much to simply _watch_ a few Jedi."

Sidious smiled. This was indeed a smart being. "You will bring me a recording of their doings tomorrow," he said, "and then you will come with me to Korriban."

Cad Bane, expert bounty hunter with a grudge against the Jedi, nodded. "I can do that."

...

"Here we are," Anakin announced gesturing toward the old building. He had been here once when he was younger, a Padawan wanting more to life than studies. He had only visited the place because he needed a place to hide from a Manikon , but he wasn't about to mention that to his Padawan.

Ahsoka's gaze told him that she was about as impressed with this place as she was with the factory in The Works. "How do you _find_ these places?" she asked.

"Don't ask," Anakin replied, moving further into the building. He didn't sense the dark side, only an elusive presence that was closer than he would have liked. But no one knew they were there. He had made sure of that.

...

Cad Bane watched from a nearby rooftop as Skywalker and his Padawan entered the building. What the Jedi did had not realized is that part of the back wall had caved in and he would be able to watch them quite easily. He took out a holorecorder as Skywalker and Tano entered the room. He ducked down as Skywalker glanced out through the hole in the wall, but apparently he was satisfied, as he turned his attention back to Tano.

Bane activated the holorecorder and turned his attention back to the Jedi.

...

Anakin took out his lightsaber and was about to activate it when Ahsoka shook her head.

"I want to practice Force use," she said. She was eager to show Anakin what she had learned the night before.

Anakin looked surprised, but he shrugged. "Fine." He shot her a challenging grin. "I'd like to see if you can beat me in a Force duel yet."

Ahsoka smirked. Anakin had invented a 'Force duel' as a way for her to perfect her skills and make her training more interesting. It also involved intense use of every Force power they knew of and both of them had been injured more than once. Anakin had no clue about Electric Judgement, though Ahsoka was very much looking forward to showing him.

Anakin stepped back a few paces. "I'll try not to send you to the healer's wing again, OK?"

Ahsoka glared at him. "That only happened once!"

"You shouldn't let you guard down," Anakin replied. Ahsoka remembered hearing almost the exact same words from the Daughter the night before.

_You're going to eat those words, Master, _she thought. She decided to let him make the first move.

Anakin's Force push sent her halfway across the room, but she quickly regained her balance. She hid a smile and retaliated with a Force push of her own.

_Let him think he's won._

Anakin was hardly affected by her Force push, as Ahsoka wanted it to be. He then drew on the Force to create a small whirlwind. Ahsoka had not been expecting this and barely had time to glare at her Master before she was swept inside of it.

When Anakin finally released his hold on the Force, Ahsoka was so dizzy, she could barely think straight.

Anakin took a few steps toward her, clearly enjoying himself. "Do you give up?"

Ahsoka cleared her mind. "Never," she said, and sent a round of Electric Judgement at him.

Ahsoka would have given anything for a holocamera to capture Anakin's look of pure shock at that moment. The Jedi gave a startled cry as he fell backwards. Ahsoka knew that the electricity wasn't particularly painful, just energy draining. But all the same, he was her Master, and Ahsoka wasn't sure if she would get in trouble for shocking him with something that most Jedi believed to be dangerous.

She offered Anakin a hand. "Do you yield?"

He accepted her hand and she helped him up. "I- yeah... Snips, what was that?"

Ahsoka shrugged, then remembered that she should be acting as alarmed as Anakin. "I don't know, Master," she lied.

Anakin faced her. "I'm a more than a little concerned that I just had Sith lightning used on me by _my own Padawan_."

Ahsoka realized she had to come up with a good excuse, and fast. "Master, you _know_ what Sith lightning feels like, right?

Anakin nodded. "All too well," he said with a wince.

"That wasn't Sith lightning."

Anakin looked at her. "It sure looked like it."

Ahsoka was really beginning to regret this. "Please, Master," she said. "I would never hurt you purposely."

Anakin shook his head, the hurt evident on his face. "I seem to remember you didn't care much about that on Mortis. Maybe the dark hasn't completely left you after all."

Now it was Ahsoka's turn to be shocked. "Master, no, I didn't..."

Anakin brushed past her. "Come on. Lets get out of here."

Ahsoka bowed her head as she realized she had made things considerably worse.

...

Cad Bane smiled as he tucked away the holorecorder. Not only had he witnessed an amazing Force battle, he had recorded a very interesting verbal battle as well. That would make his employer very happy...

...

Ahsoka awoke with a start. She brought a hand to her face as she remembered the dream she'd had. That... monster had been in it again, and an older version of Ahsoka had been engaged in a lightsaber duel with him...

_Ahsoka clashed blades furiously with the black clad nightmare._

_"You won't win this time, Vader," she told him._

_"You always were so overconfident," the shadow replied, pressing the attack._

_"So, are you going to kill me?" Ahsoka asked, parrying at top speed. "Just like you killed the Younglings?And Anakin?"_

_Vader missed a strike and one of Ahsoka's blades glanced off his armour. He snarled in pain, then resumed the fight._

_"You are wise to accept the fact that Anakin is indeed dead," he said._

_"Who are you trying to convince of that, Vader?" Ahsoka said, Force leaping over his head. "You, or me?"_

_"Anakin is dead, __**Snips**__," Vader replied. "Do not ever think that anything can bring him back."_

_He knocked her lightsabers away and raised his own for the killing blow..._

Ahsoka closed her eyes. Had that also been a vision of the future?

_Does Anakin really die?_

And who was Vader?

_That monster called me Snips..._

Ahsoka wondered if she would ever get a normal sleep again.

**Well, if you guessed Korriban, virtual cookie for you! Mustafar and Dagobah were really good suggestions as well. What do you think of this chapter? Please reveiw!**


	7. Korriban

**Thanks for all the reveiws!**

Darth Sidious boarded the republic shuttle early the next morning, when the press would not expect it and he would be asked less questions. He would be accompanied by two Red Guards that were really commando droids in costume. No one would be able to tell the difference and anyone who did would be... taken care of.

Mas Amedda bowed as Sidious ascended the ramp to the ship.

"Forgive me for asking, Chancellor, but how long will this... diplomatic mission last?"

Sidious thought for a moment. His cover story was that he was going to attend negotiations with the Chiss. Their reluctance to join the republic was well known, so Sidious would try to persuade them to consider their offer.

Or so the public thought.

In reality, Sidious would leave the negotiating to the Senators already on the planet. It hadn't taken much for him to bribe them into keeping quiet about his real situation. He would meet Bane on Korriban and lure Skywalker and Tano to him.

"Milord?"

Sidious turned his attention back to Amedda. "That depends," he said slowly, "on the willingness of my... new ally."

...

Ahsoka awoke that morning feeling worse then she had the previous day. She winced as she remembered yesterday's conversation with Anakin. The Daughter's words from that night's training session had done little to lighten her mood...

_Ahsoka didn't even give the Daughter a chance to speak._

_"Who is Vader?" she demanded. "How does he know me, and why did he use my nickname?"_

_The Daughter's expression clouded. "Perhaps he was using that nickname to mock your relationship with your Master. I cannot say anymore than that."_

_Ahsoka folded her arms and turned away. She was sick of the half answers and lies that made __up her life._

_"You are still troubled," the Daughter said to Ahsoka._

_Somehow, her gentle words served to fuel Ahsoka's anger. "You probably know why," she said bitterly. "Just like you _knew_ that lies were necessary. Lies made my Master mad at me. Lies are the reason I'm here right now. Lies seem to run my life!"_

_The Daughter remained calm throughout Ahsoka's tirade. "Ahsoka, you must put yourself in your Master's place. He does not know what Electric Judgement is, only the__ fact that Sith __Lightning exists. He already lost you to the dark side once. What would your reaction be if you were in his place?"_

_Ahsoka considered this. "I guess we should have thought about this first, huh?"_

_The Daughter smiled faintly. "Indeed. Ahsoka, I'm worried about you. Something is happening to you, something dark. If the Sith meet up with you now, it won't take much for them to use your weaknesses."_

_Ahsoka went cold. "But... you said I can't be trained in the ways of the dark side."_

_The Daughter turned away. "My brother and I were brought up with the light side. We knew nothing else. When we came of age, we were introduced to the dark side. It sickened me, that there was such a darkness in the galaxy, but my brother was enchanted by it. He had a taste of it, and he wanted more."_

_Ahsoka was confused. "I thought each of you represented a different side of the Force; you the light__ s__ide and your brother the dark side."_

_The Daughter shook her head. "No, it's more complicated than that. For a long time, I had walked the path of the light. Just as, for a long time, the light side has reigned supreme in the galaxy. My brother, for an equal amount of time, had walked a line between the light and the dark. More recently, he had looked deeper into the dark side__, and at the same time the Sith had been gaining strength. When our father brought your Master to our planet... he lost c__ontrol."_

_Ahsoka stared, wide-eyed at this new revelation. "But.. that has nothing to do with me and the dark side."_

_The Daughter turned to face her. " But it does. Everyone has a choice to make. That is what I am trying to teach you. I know now that once I have taught you all I can, you will be open to the dark side, like I was."_

_Ahsoka swallowed hard."Why didn't you tell me this before?"_

_The Daughter shifted on her feet. "I wanted to make sure my speculations were correct."_

_"I don't want this," Ahsoka said. "You could have used your power to heal yourself when your brother stabbed you, I know it! Why did you give your life for me?"_

_The Daughter looked her in the eye. "Because your Master cannot handle another loss like that in his life right now."_

_Ahsoka stared at the ground. "Jedi should not be so attached." The response came automatically, drilled into her by hours of lessons as a Youngling._

_A smile touched the Daughter's lips. "And tell me, young Padawan, has your Master ever really listened to that?"_

_Ahsoka thought back to all the times Anakin had put a mission in jeopardy to save someone close to him._

_More than once, in fact, to save Ahsoka._

_"You have a point," she admitted grudgingly._

_The Daughter nodded. "Now, let's get to work."_

The Daughter had shown Ahsoka advanced Force push and told her of a power she had never heard of called the Wall of Light. It served to sever a dark side user's Force connection. It normally took several Jedi to conjure a Wall of Light, but the Daughter felt that Anakin and Ahsoka could do it alone.

_"If you say so,"_ Ahsoka had said after hearing about the immense power it took to create one.

The Daughter had merely smiled and said, _"Nothing is impossible with the Force."_

...

Sidious arrived on Korriban after several hours in hyperspace. As soon as the ship entered the atmosphere, he sensed the dark power on this world.

The dark side lived in the soul of this world, driving those who couldn't handle it to madness. This was the birthplace of the Sith, the resting place of some of the greatest Sith Lords in the galaxy. The Jedi feared this planet like none other in the galaxy, but Sidious...

Sidious revelled in it's dark power.

It was the perfect place for Ahsoka Tano to embrace the dark side.

A short distance away, Sidious saw a small ship touching down on the planet's dusty surface. He donned his Sith robe and went to meet Cad Bane face to face for the first time.

The bounty hunter tipped his hat to the Sith Lord in greeting. Sidious nodded back. "Do you have the recording I asked for?"

Bane nodded and produced the holorecorder. "I think what you see will be of great interest to you."

Sidious activated the recording and was greeted with an image of Skywalker and his Padawan. He watched with interest as they engaged in what they called a 'Force duel.' It was clear that they they both knew what they were doing, but he was intrigued by the fact that Tano never seemed flustered, no matter what Skywalker threw at her. And then he saw it.

Ahsoka Tano, legendary Padawan and great Force wielder, was using Force lightning on her Master.

Sidious watched with glee as Skywalker expressed his concern for her and Tano tried to deny what she had done.

_This may be easier than I thought..._

He turned to Bane. "Send the message to the Jedi Council. They will send Skywalker and Tano into my trap and then..." beneath Sidious's hood, his eyes glinted yellow.

"Then her fall will begin."

**Well, what did you think? Please reveiw!**


	8. It's A Trap!

**Thanks for all the reveiws! PenAndInkPrincess, how is your heart now? ;)**

Anakin walked quickly through the halls of the Temple, on his way to the Council Chambers. He had been told it was quite urgent, but had received no more information then that.

In the corridor just outside the Council Chambers, he nearly ran right into Ahsoka.

"I take it you got the message as well?" she asked brightly.

For some reason, her cheerful tone annoyed him. Had she forgotten what had happened the previous day? Anakin bit his tongue before he could say something he'd regret, but the look on his face must have betrayed him because Ahsoka looked away.

Anakin had never been so grateful to see the doors to the Chambers open. The first thing he noticed was the grave expressions of all the Jedi Masters. Even Kit Fisto's face was dead serious.

_This can't be good._

Mace Windu started off the meeting. "We thank you both for coming on short notice."

_It's not like we had anything else to do with our time, _Anakin sent to Ahsoka through their bond. She masked a snicker with some coughing and Anakin felt some of the tension between them ease a bit.

"Received an interesting message, we have," Yoda said. "Concerns you both, it does."

Yoda gestured to the holographic stand in the middle of the room and it projected an image of a very familiar bounty hunter.

"Greetings, Master Jedi," Cad Bane said in a polite tone that fooled no one.

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged a look. They hadn't seen Bane since the incident with the Force-sensitive children. For him to show his face now most likely meant trouble.

"While I'm sure you can't afford to send more Jedi after me in this time of war, I'm afraid you have no choice," Bane continued. "I have taken two Jedi hostage."

Anakin glanced at Ahsoka as she let out an audible gasp. The picture had switched to an image of two Jedi, bound and gagged. One of the Jedi was a Master, but the second was a Padawan that could have been younger than Ahsoka.

Bane reappeared. "If you want the Jedi, you will send Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan to switch places with them at these coordinates..."

Anakin looked at Ahsoka, worried. She had gone very pale and looked like she wanted to throttle the bounty hunter.

_Snips, calm down,_ Anakin told her silently. _The whole Council can sense your emotions._

_Calm down?_ Ahsoka answered incredulously. _Do you know who that Padawan is?_

Anakin couldn't say he did. The Twi'lek had looked a little familiar, but he couldn't quite place the identity...

_That's Jinx!_

_Now_ Anakin could understand her anger. Jinx. One of the Padawans that had helped her escape the Trandoshan moon only a few weeks earlier, Jinx and Ahsoka had become good friends. He had been given the rank of Padawan shortly after his return and left for his first mission with his new Master recently.

And now he was captured. Again.

Anakin turned his attention back to Bane.

"Remember, Jedi, if I find out that you are sending anyone but Skywalker and Tano, these two die," he said, placing a hand on his blaster. The hologram flickered out.

"A hologram can be faked," Anakin said. His eyes were on the Masters, but his words were directed to his Padawan.

"Faked or not, Bane wants you to meet him there," Kit Fisto said. "As far as we can tell, the coordinates lead to wild space. Nevertheless, they are carefully planned out."

"We don't think that you are the right Jedi to do this job," Obi-Wan said. "Bane wants you for a reason. We feel it isn't wise to cooperate with the likes of him."

"But what about Jinx?" Ahsoka asked. "If Jedi other than Master Skywalker and myself go, he and his Master will be killed!"

"They may not even have Padawan Jinx," Adi Gallia reminded her. "We could be sending you into a trap."

Ahsoka turned to Anakin and he saw clearly the message in her eyes: _Do something!_

Anakin stepped in at last. "Please, Masters, let us go. Ahsoka and I have been victims of traps of the enemy many times. I think we can handle anything Bane throws at us."

Yoda appeared to be contemplating this. "Go, you will," he said at last. "But beware. A cunning warrior, Bane is. On your guard, you must be."

Anakin nodded. "Thank you, Master. We can leave right away."

"May the Force be with you," Yoda concluded.

...

"Skywalker is leaving Coruscant," the spy reported to Sidious.

"Excellent," Sidious replied. He had instructed Bane to give the Jedi coordinates that wouldn't look suspicious. Giving them directions straight to Korriban was like holding a laser sign declaring the Sith were involved. No, he had a better way of getting them to Korriban, one that would not ever make them underestimate him...

...

Ahsoka was strangely silent as Anakin flew the ship through the Coruscant blockade.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

She didn't answer for a few seconds. Then...

"Are you mad at me?"

Anakin did a double take. "What?"

Ahsoka sighed. "It's a pretty simple question, Master."

"What gave you that impression?" Anakin asked, knowing very well what had.

_I haven't exactly been remotely polite to her lately..._

"Because of the lightning... incident," she replied. "I really didn't think it was harmful, Master! I read about it somewhere... it wasn't Sith lightning!"

The shuttle entered hyperspace and Anakin turned to face Ahsoka. He could sense the truth in her, except for one thing...

"So, where did you read about it? I'd like to see this."

He saw her shoulders slump in defeat. "I... can't tell you."

"Oh? Why not?" Anakin folded his arms and gave her a hard stare.

Ahsoka quickly changed the subject. "Do you think Bane really has Jinx?"

"I don't know, Snips," Anakin said hesitantly. He knew she had changed the subject on purpose, but once again, this wasn't the right time to talk about that.

"I'd like to know how Bane caught them in the first place," Ahsoka said thoughtfully. "Jinx is one of the best fighters I've ever met."

Truthfully, Anakin had been wondering the same thing. "I guess we'll find out."

...

Darth Sidious glanced up as he felt Skywalker approach his destination. He had been tracking Skywalker's Force signature ever since the Jedi had left Coruscant.

It was almost time.

Sidious looked up a Korriban's dark sky and felt his rage begin to grow. Good. He would need it if he was going to pull this off.

Sidious felt the dark power of Korriban and fed off that. He allowed his anger to become as large as a storm itself. He hadn't given into his anger in a long time, but this precise act meant he had to. Rage clouded out everything until his vision became red with anger, but now he could see better, living in darkness expanded his vision in a way that the Jedi fools would never understand.

And then he saw it.

In the sky above, a giant swirling hurricane was forming, only it was ten times larger than a hurricane. The wormhole expanded outward and Sidious could feel it travelling out into space, across the galaxy to where Skywalker waited to be swallowed by it's monstrous power...

And _that_ was what the dark side brought him.

...

Ahsoka was beginning to worry. They had arrived at the coordinates sent to them by Bane, but there was nothing there but empty space. Not another ship in sight.

"Well, I'm beginning to think Bane set us up," Anakin said.

"But why would he send us all the way out here for nothing?" Ahsoka wondered.

"Wait," Anakin said, checking some of the readings. "Our scanners are indicating a massive energy source extremely close by!"

Ahsoka glanced out the window again and almost fell over in shock. "Uh, Master, 'extremely close by' would be an understatement! Look!"

Anakin turned around and his eyes widened in alarm.

The blackness of space had been replaced by a giant wormhole. It was fifty times the size of their ship and was definitely _not_ Bane's doing.

Ahsoka exchanged a look with Anakin as they both realized that this was indeed a trap, but not one set by Bane.

The wormhole seized the small republic shuttle and began to draw it in.

Anakin slammed a fist down on the control panel. "The energy from the wormhole is interfering with the ships systems!"

Yes, this was definitely a trap, Ahsoka thought as the blackness of space disappeared.

_But who set it?_

**Still trying to decide if Jinx will be making an appearence or not. What do you think? Please reveiw!**


	9. The Second Sith

**Thank you all for reading!**

Anakin paced restlessly in the cockpit of the shuttle. They had been trapped in the wormhole for a while now, and not knowing where they were going was driving him crazy. The Force was warning him, a small alarm in the back of his head. Along with that was a suspicion, but he pushed that aside. Dooku didn't have the technology to create a wormhole of this size.

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor," Ahsoka said without taking her eyes from the swirling storm that surrounded them.

Anakin shot her a look, but before he could respond, the wormhole gave way to real space once more. It seemed like they hadn't moved from their last location; this place seemed harmless enough.

Then he saw the planet.

"Where in the _galaxy_ are we?" Ahsoka wondered.

Anakin knew. He had been to hundreds of planets, but he would never forget this one. The barren wasteland. The dark side that surrounded the planet like a cloud.

_Korriban._

The planet of the Sith.

Anakin turned to his Padawan, struggling not to show his anxiety. "You've heard of Korriban, right?"

Ahsoka nodded. "That's the world where the Sith originated from. Not many Jedi return from that planet."

"I really hope I can get lucky twice," Anakin said under his breath.

Ahsoka glanced sharply at him, immediately catching on. "Change the course."

"I can't," Anakin said glaring at the controls as if that would get them working again. "Somehow, the energy of that wormhole shut down all the ship's systems. We're going to land on that planet whether we like it or not."

"At least we know who's behind the wormhole," Ahsoka said as the ship dropped down towards Korriban's surface.

"We have no proof of anything, Ahsoka," Anakin reminded.

"We've been brought to a Sith planet, by a very powerful wormhole, Master," his Padawan replied. "I think that gives us a pretty good idea of who is really behind this."

Anakin had to agree with her there, but he didn't want to think of that possibility until he had to. He knew that Dooku wasn't behind this, he couldn't sense Dooku anywhere on the planet below.

And he didn't think Dooku would come all they way to the outer rim to trap them.

No, there was something else going on here. Someone else was involved.

The ship entered Korriban's atmosphere and Anakin felt like he was being choked by darkness. It settled over him, cold as ice, a serpent with ill intentions. And worse than that... it was _inviting._ It beckoned him, just as it had done years before. He had only been a Padawan when he had been here last time. He knew from experience that no apprentice should ever to come to this place.

He looked over at Ahsoka. She was pale and had gone quite still. Her eyes were closed, and if Anakin hadn't known better, he would have thought she was meditating.

_Ahsoka, meditating? Yeah, right._

"Ahsoka, are you alright?"

She gave herself a little shake and looked at him. "He's here."

"Who is 'he'?"

"Remember the being we chased in The Works? Concentrate hard and you'll sense him, too," Ahsoka said, staring out the window at the rapidly approaching ground. "Master, if you don't pay attention, we _are_ going to crash."

"I think you are forgetting that I have no way of controlling the ship," Anakin said. "We're going to crash anyway."

And at the speeds they were reaching, they probably wouldn't survive.

...

In the Valley of the Dark Lords, Sidious frowned as he saw the republic ship enter the atmosphere. They were travelling much too fast for comfort. He knew that most of the systems on the ship were temporarily shut off and they couldn't control anything. He didn't want to reveal his presence to the Master and apprentice. But he didn't really want them to die, either. Sidious reached out with the dark side of the Force and used it to slow the shuttle's descent. It hit the ground, skidding for twenty metres despite his efforts.

When it finally came to a halt, Sidious brought out his comlink. "Bounty hunter, the Jedi are here. When you are finished with the hostages, you will bring Tano to me."

"What about Skywalker?" Bane questioned.

Sidious allowed a small smile to cross his face. "When a child goes missing, the parent goes after him. It is similar with a Master and his apprentice. Skywalker has proven this several times. I predict this will be no different."

...

Anakin exited the ship slowly. There was no mistaking the fact that their ship had been slowed by the Force. The fact that they hadn't been killed in the landing was proof enough that someone wanted them alive. But they weren't going anywhere for a while, and Anakin intended to find out what was going on.

Ahsoka appeared in the doorway. "Master, are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should contact the Temple first."

"Go ahead and try, Snips, but I have a feeling that your comlink is going to work as well as our ship's engine," Anakin said. "Whoever is behind this knows what he's doing."

Ahsoka lowered her comlink a few seconds later. "Yeah, you're right. It isn't working." She followed him out into the dull landscape.

They had been walking for a few minutes when Anakin spotted something. To their left, the ground fell away sharply, like some kind of valley. The ground was very flat on Korriban, besides one place that was held high in importance to the Sith...

They were standing above the Valley of the Dark Lords, burial grounds of the Sith.

Suddenly, the Force shouted a warning and Anakin whirled around, lightsaber out. Ahsoka was barely a second behind him. A blaster shot whizzed past them and Anakin saw Cad Bane crouching behind a boulder.

Ahsoka ran towards him, deflecting shots as she went. "Where is Jinx?" she demanded.

The bounty hunter shot up in the air on rocket boots. "Not to worry, young Padawan, you'll be joining him soon enough."

Anakin advanced more slowly- Bane couldn't get away, it was two Jedi against a bounty hunter. But it hadn't escaped his mind that Bane always found a way to turn the odds against them. He Force jumped high enough to slash at Bane, but the Duros bounty hunter dodged him and fired at Ahsoka. Bane dropped to the ground again, ducking and avoiding both Jedi now. Then, suddenly, Bane fled.

Ahsoka immediately began to go after him again, but Anakin caught her arm. "Ahsoka, he want's you to go after him! Remember what happened last time you went after Bane like this? Let's not rush into this."

_Obi-Wan would be proud, _he thought wryly. _I'm thinking before I act for once!_

Ahsoka obviously thought the same thing, but it didn't amuse her. "He knows where Jinx is! We can't let him go!" She wrenched her arm free and raced after Bane.

"Wait!" Anakin knew it was pointless. His apprentice was too much like him. She was very stubborn. And she never followed orders. Resolving to save her yet again, he followed her.

When Anakin caught up to them, Ahsoka and Bane were engaged in hand to hand combat. Both her lightsabers lay on the ground not far away and Anakin sighed. Had she learned _nothing _since the last time they had encountered Bane?

He moved in to help her at the same time Bane's fist connected with the side of Ahsoka's face. She fell backwards and tumbled into the valley below.

Enraged, Anakin took a step forward, fully intending to decapitate Bane, but the bounty hunter fired off another round of shots.

Anakin watched curiously as the blasterfire came nowhere near it's mark. Funny... Bane hardly ever missed.

Then he heard the rumbling and realized that Bane hadn't missed at all. Anakin had never been his target. The rock arch formation that soared over his head had been the target. The rocks crumbled down on him, not even giving him the chance to run. The last thing he saw was Bane's sadistic smile, promising that things would not go well for them on this planet of nightmares.

...

Bane stopped only to pick up the girl's lightsabers before entering the Valley of the Dark Lords. He found the Padawan in the exact position she had landed in. The fall had knocked her unconscious -hopefully she'd stay that way for a while. He placed binders on her wrists and began dragging her back to his employer. The sooner he did that, the sooner he would get paid and could get off this planet.

...

Ahsoka heard voices above her and slowly raised her head. Her vision was blurry and she ached all over.

_That tends to happen when you fall off a cliff, _she thought hazily. Then she bolted upright, aches forgotten. She had been bested by Cad Bane. Again. She sought out the bounty hunter and spotted him talking to a black robed, hooded man a few paces to her right.

The man noticed her and turned away from Bane. His hood completely covered his face and the black robes he was wearing made him look like nothing more than a shadow.

Ahsoka had never in her life met someone stronger in the dark side then this person. Not even Dooku. He looked short, but made up for it with his intimidating presence.

_This must be the second Sith!_

Ahsoka immediately retreated from him, slamming up the shields around her thoughts as best as she could. This Sith couldn't have even a sense of what she was thinking.

"Do calm down, child," the Sith said. "I will not hurt you, if you cooperate." His voice was soft, but dry, like the hiss of wind that ran across the wasteland outside this strange building.

"What makes you think that I would ever cooperate with you, Sith?" Ahsoka asked boldly.

_Don't show weakness..._

The Sith's voice was pleased. "Yes, I am a Sith. In time, you will call me Master."

Ahsoka stared into the shadowy face. "Never. I will never betray my real Master."

"I am afraid you have no choice. If you do not, a close friend of yours will have to suffer," the Sith said.

Ahsoka hadn't noticed Bane leave, but she gasped when he reentered the room, pushing ahead of him a young Twi'lek.

"Jinx!"

Jinx was unable to talk due to the gag in his mouth, but his message was very clear through his actions.

_Don't listen to him..._

Ahsoka knew her battle was lost. Jinx had saved her life on the Trandoshan moon, Wasskah. It was her duty as a Jedi to save as many lives as possible.

_But at what cost? Is it worth listening to this Sith?_

"What do you want?" she asked quietly.

"Become my apprentice," the Sith replied. "You have fallen to the dark side once, you have experienced it's pull before. I can feel the affect it has on you now. Agree to learn the ways of the dark side and your friends will live. I will allow your Master to leave."

Ahsoka sneaked a glance at Jinx. None of her friends knew she had turned to the dark side, it wasn't information that she just gave out. "You don't even know where my Master is," she replied. "That is a bargaining chip you do not have."

She hoped.

The Sith nodded. "I do know that your Master was temporarily unable to come to your aide, but he is on his way here now. If he makes it into this building and you have not made up your mind, both this Padawan and Skywalker will suffer greatly."

It was impossible to mistake the threat in his voice.

Ahsoka bowed her head. Her Master had survived torture before, she had no doubt he could do it again. But did she want to be the reason for it? And what about Jinx and his Master?

The shadow spoke again. "Using Force lightning on your Master is hardly the Jedi way, child. I am surprised you weren't thrown out of the Jedi Order for that... unless no one knows."

Ahsoka's head shot up at that statement. She increased the shields around her thoughts, but the Sith simply shook his head.

"Now I know the truth. You cannot possibly call yourself a Jedi after all the rules you have broken. They will be better off without you."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ahsoka burst out. She called out to the Force, trying to harness the power she had so recently learned, but she was too angry, and she knew it. Her Force push was harmlessly deflected by the Sith, then he raised his hand and Ahsoka learned the true agony of Sith lightning.

Dooku's lightning had been nothing compared to this, Ahsoka had never felt so much pain, she wished he would kill her quickly instead of drawing it out like this...

And then it was over. Ahsoka slumped on the floor, breathing hard. The Sith stood over her.

"I am growing impatient," he said, looking down at her. "Make your decision, but remember, should you choose the light side, your fellow Jedi will suffer the same thing. I don't care about the hostages, make no mistake, I _will _kill them."

Ahsoka knew that he was speaking the truth. Strangely enough, he hadn't threatened her with her Master's death. She wondered vaguely if he had plans for him as well.

She shook her head- the decision she had made was going to prevent that.

Ahsoka sank to her knees in a respective gesture she only made to the Jedi Council members, and spoke the hardest words of her life.

"I will become your apprentice. Just let them go."

**This isn't my best chapter, but it's important to the storyline. Reviews would be appreciated!**


	10. Struggles

**I am sooo sorry for not updating! I just had a small case writer's block. :( Anyway, here's chapter 10!**

Anakin walked silently through the Valley of the Dark Lords. He could sense the dark side even more strongly in here, the resting place of countless Sith.

He frowned. Ahsoka was here as well, her Force presence like a glow rod in a dark cave... but Anakin could feel the light was darkening. She was slipping closer to the dark side. Anakin broke into a run, heading for the small Sith Temple ahead. He reached out with the Force to sense for any traps that might have surrounded the Temple, but surprisingly, there were none. Anakin entered the Sith Temple- and stopped dead at the sight before him.

Ahsoka was kneeling before a cloaked, hooded figure, declaring her allegiance to the dark side.

Anakin was too shocked to move. Any words that he had been about to say died on the tip of his tongue. An icy feeling stole through his mind. _This can't be happening..._

The cloaked figure, who Anakin assumed was a Sith, looked up to see him standing in the doorway. "Welcome, young Skywalker."

Ahsoka stood up, but she didn't turn around. "You have to get out of here, Master."

"Ahsoka," Anakin began quietly. "What are you _doing_?"

She turned to face him. "What I have to do."

Anakin saw with relief that her eyes were not yellow. Her face, however, was blank of any emotion, and her voice was as empty as a void.

"You have to leave," she continued. "Please."

Anakin snapped out of his daze. "If I'm leaving, you're coming with me."

She shook her head. "I can't go with you. He'll kill Jinx if I go."

Anakin followed her gaze across the room where Jinx was held by Bane. _So, he wasn't lying. And this Sith probably wasn't lying about killing him either._

"You can't turn to the dark side to save him, Ahsoka," Anakin said at last.

Ahsoka shook her head. "It has to be like this, Master. I'm sorry."

Anakin sensed Ahsoka was telling the truth. She honestly thought she was doing the right thing!

"No, Ahsoka, it doesn't have to be like this," Anakin said desperately. "We can still save Jinx."

Ahsoka laughed slightly, but the sound lacked humour. "This isn't just about Jinx. You are in danger as well. Please Master... you have to go."

Anakin glared at her. Did she really think he was going to listen to her? "Forget it."

Ahsoka looked him in the eye. "If you don't leave... I'll sever our bond."

Anakin stared at her. "You wouldn't." The bond between a Master and Padawan was very strong. It enabled them to speak to one another with talking out loud, and sense the other person very easily. But, if the bond was broken, it could rarely be repaired. If Ahsoka was willing to do that...

"I hope you realize now that I am serious," Ahsoka replied quietly. "Get off this planet. I'll be fine."

"Ahsoka..." Anakin felt helpless. He couldn't do anything to help her. He didn't trust the Sith who stood silently, watching them. But was it worth his bond with Ahsoka to try and do _anything_?

...

Ahsoka watched her Master, hating herself for what he was going through. What _she_ was putting him through. But she couldn't allow the Sith to have him, he would be a much more powerful apprentice than she.

Ahsoka had to make him leave, before the Sith changed his mind. Then, an idea sprang to her mind.

Ahsoka winced as for the first time ever, she used the dark side willingly. A faint rumbling noise had begun, it grew louder and louder, and soon she couldn't tell if it was from her anger, or the ceiling that was caving in above them. A large section of the ceiling tore away and fell to the ground in front of the Sith Lord. Ahsoka allowed her anger to break free, and as it did, it destroyed the Sith Temple.

Anakin stepped backwards, staring at her in disbelief. Ahsoka hated that she was going against everything he and the Daughter had taught her, but it was the only way to convince the Sith of her loyalty and get her Master out of there.

The Sith Lord disappeared down a long shadowy corridor, Bane, dragging Jinx, was not far behind.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin called.

Ahsoka looked back at him, torn. If she went with him, Jinx would be killed, but she would keep her bond with Anakin and would be able to stay in the Jedi Order. If she went with the Sith, Anakin stayed free, Jinx lived, and she could possibly find out what the Sith was up to. It was simply a question of whether she cared about her friends more than the Jedi Order.

Ahsoka turned her back on her Master and ran after the Sith.

...

Any hope Anakin may have had of convincing his Padawan to come with him flew out the window as she drew on the dark side to collapse the building, then ran after the Sith. He started to follow her, only to find his way blocked by a giant slab of stone. He started to move it using the Force, but another part of the ceiling fell down beside him.

Anakin clenched his fists as he realized he wouldn't be able to help Ahsoka. He hesitated, then turned and raced for the exit. He made it through the door just as it was blocked by another large part of the ceiling.

Anakin stood outside the ruined building, breathing hard. He couldn't search for Ahsoka in those ruins, it would take ages before the dust would clear.

_Excuses, _a voice hissed in his mind. _Since when has a little dust bothered you?_

Anakin struggled to make sense of all his emotions. Anger, yes, he felt anger toward Ahsoka for abandoning him. He felt anger toward the Sith for taking his Padawan. And fear... he felt fear for Ahsoka. But... was he scared _for_ Ahsoka? Or scared _of _her?

He'd seen what her powers of the light side could do. He had sensed she was holding back when she destroyed the Sith Temple. All her power, used for dark? She would be nearly unstoppable.

_Will the Sith succeed in turning her to the dark side? Could I turn her back? And if not... could I __kill her if it came to that?_

Anakin left the Valley of the Dark Lords with a terrible new weight on his shoulders.

Back at the ship, Anakin found that his comlink and all the ships systems were working fine again and the wormhole had left no lasting damage. He noticed his comlink was flashing and picked it up.

"Skywalker here," he said in a voice he barely recognized. It was filled with defeat.

"Anakin, are you alright?" came the voice of Obi-Wan. "What is going on?"

Anakin quickly filled Obi-Wan in on all that had happened since they had left Coruscant. Obi-Wan remained silent as Anakin explained how they had crashed on Korriban and engaged Bane in a fight. Then he told of how when he found Ahsoka kneeling before the Sith Lord and how she had threatened him with their bond if he didn't leave her.

When he finished, the Jedi Master was quiet for a few minutes. "Anakin, do you think the Sith would have focused their attention on her if you hadn't insisted on training her against the Council's wishes?" he asked at last.

"I don't know," Anakin confessed. "He may have sensed her growing stronger from Coruscant, but all the way out here, in the outer rim?"

"The Sith are very devious," Obi-Wan reminded him. "I would have thought you'd learned something from facing Dooku."

Anakin didn't even acknowledge the reprimand. "The Sith escaped, and Ahsoka went with him. Should I follow them?"

"What is the damage level to your ship?" Obi-Wan sounded surprised that Anakin was asking for his opinion. Anakin realized it had been years since he had openly asked his Master for advice.

"It's only minor," Anakin replied. "It's flyable."

"Good," Obi-Wan said slowly. "I advise you to return to the Temple, Anakin."

"What?" Anakin couldn't believe it. "I will not leave Ahsoka out here with _a Sith Lord."_

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began. "If what you have said is true, then there isn't much we can do to help her. You cannot fight this unknown Sith alone, and with Ahsoka as his apprentice-"

"She hasn't turned to the dark side!" Anakin insisted, glaring at his comlink.

"Jedi don't use the dark side to pull down buildings," Obi-Wan reminded him quietly.

"She hasn't turned to the dark side," Anakin said again. "I could sense it; she was just trying to save her friend!"

There was silence for a moment. Then... "Anakin, she still made the decision to join the Sith Lord. No one forced her to do that."

"She was blackmailed into joining the Sith!"

Obi-Wan's sigh could be clearly heard over the comlink. "Anakin, come back to Coruscant. You can do nothing more to help Ahsoka on Korriban, and the Council would like to speak with you."

Anakin could have thought of a hundred more arguments to use against his Master, but Obi-Wan was an expert negotiator, and he was too tired to go up against him any more.

"Yes, Master," he said at last. He ended the transmission and turned his attention to the ship. He flew into the atmosphere, hardly paying attention.

_What kind of Master am I, _he thought_, to have failed my apprentice in so many ways?_

_..._

Ahsoka walked miserably behind the Sith Lord and Bane. She kept her thoughts as shielded as possible, but she couldn't help projecting her anger at the evil, twisted man that walked in front of her. They had long since left the ruined building, only stopping to pick up Jinx's Master, Eekar Oki, from Bane's ship. It had crossed Ahsoka's mind several times while walking across the deserted land to try to hold off Bane and the Sith long enough for Master Oki and Jinx to get away. They'd still have her, of course, but they'd have no bargaining tools.

Ahsoka was so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized they had arrived at a ship. She blinked as she took in the model.

"You stole a republic shuttle?" she said incredulously. "That's low... even for you,"

The Sith Lord turned to face her, his expression lost in the shadows of his hood. "You are going to have to forget your life at the Temple if you want these two to live," he warned, gesturing to Eekar and Jinx. "Forget all the rules the Jedi taught you. You are about to begin a new life."

He walked slowly around her, pausing behind her. Ahsoka felt a small tug on her lekku, and turned around to see the Sith holding the chain of silka beads that made up her traditional Padawan braid. She sensed he was smiling. "You are no longer a Padawan, child. The name Anakin Skywalker will soon just be a name of the enemy." He dropped the beads to the dusty ground and started up the ramp. "Come. I want to arrive at my base by nightfall."

Bane, the two Jedi and the Sith disappeared into the ship, but Ahsoka paused at the top of the ramp, staring down at the string of beads. Quickly, she used the Force to call it to her, then tucked it into a pouch on her belt. She wasn't ready to renounce the Order completely, no matter what the Sith thought.

**Please reveiw! :D**


	11. The Bond

**I forgot to mention last chapter: Web of Lies has reached 100 reveiws! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and reveiw this story! Shout out to Dryadeh, jedikim2424 and livvixxx for reviewing every chapter. Thanks!**

Anakin was in a very dark mood when he arrived back on Coruscant. Alone in hyperspace, with only his thoughts for company, he had begun to think a little more about what Obi-Wan had said.

_Jedi don't use the dark side to pull down buildings... she still made the decision to join the Sith Lord. No one forced her to do that... Do you think the Sith would have focus their attention on her if you hadn't insisted on training her against the Council's wishes?_

_What have I done?_

As he ascended the steps into the Jedi Temple, he saw 448 waiting for him. He frown deepened. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to have a conversation with the arrogant battle droid.

"Jedi Anakin!" 448 said. Anakin ignored him. The droid followed him into the Temple, still trying to get his attention.

"Jedi Anakin!" repeated the tinny voice.

"What?" Anakin finally snapped, turning around.

"Where is Jedi Ahsoka?"

Anakin scowled, resisting the temptation to use the Force to slam the droid into a wall.

"She's... gone," he said, hardly able to force out the words.

"Gone?" 448 said, sounding quizzical. "What do you mean gone?"

_What happened to the reprogramming this droid was supposed to get?_

"I mean she's gone," Anakin said harshly, glaring at the droid. "The Sith have her."

This statement earned him a few startled glances from the passing Jedi, but no one questioned him.

448 stared at him blankly. "The Sith? Jedi Anakin, I know little about the Sith, but aren't they extinct?"

"Obviously not," Anakin said through gritted teeth. "Have you learned nothing over the past few weeks?"

"Of course I have, sir," the droid said, sounding defensive. "But you have to admit, you and Jedi Ahsoka have been very secretive lately."

Secrets...

_Lies._

Lies had driven Ahsoka closer to the dark side, Anakin had felt it. She had definitely been feeling strain from the secrets they had been keeping from the Council. And she had been keeping something from him, as well...

_"Please, Master... I would never hurt you purposely!"_

_"I seem to remember you didn't care much about that on Mortis. Maybe the dark hasn't left you after all."_

_"I didn't think it was harmful, Master! I read about it somewhere... it wasn't Sith lightning!"_

_"So, where did you read about it? I'd like to see this."_

_"I...can't tell you."_

Something had been going on with her. Anakin had become so used to living with secrets that he had burdened his Padawan with a very big one without thinking twice about it.

_"I don't know how much longer I can do this,"_ she had said. _"I hate secrets."_

Anakin could have smacked himself for not figuring this out sooner. Had he driven them farther apart in his quest to disobey the Council? He realized now that she was very easy prey for the Sith Lord.

And he had left her on Korriban alone.

"Jedi!"

Anakin rounded on the battle droid. "What do you want, 448?"

"Are your hearing sensors damaged?" the droid demanded.

Anakin wished the droid had an off switch, but all battle droids were operated by a main control center. 448 was no exception. The only way for the Jedi to shut him off would be to decapitate him, and that option was looking pretty good to Anakin.

"Are you going to get Jedi Ahsoka back?" 448 continued.

"Yes," Anakin said. He continued walking, but froze when he heard 448's next words.

"Sir, what if she doesn't want to come back?"

Anakin whirled around again and, in a foolish display of anger, used the Force to throw 448 into the nearest wall. The droid crumpled to the ground in a shower of sparks, and didn't move.

Anakin stood there, slightly in shock. He had half expected the droid to get back up, screeching insults in that annoying mechanical voice, but he remained still.

_Ahsoka is going to kill me, _he thought, then cringed as he remembered where Ahsoka was at the moment.

"Anakin, do my eyes deceive me, or did I really just see you destroy a defenceless battle droid, that, might I add, happens to be on our side?"

Anakin sighed as Obi-Wan approached him. "It's good to see you, too, Obi-Wan," he said as lightly as he could.

His former Master gestured to the smoking ruins that had once been a battle droid. "What in the galaxy could he have done to earn that?"

"It's a battle droid, Master," Anakin said, avoiding the subject that had earned 448 a flight through the halls of the Temple. "Personally, I think its lucky to have lasted this long."

"Well, contrary to your beliefs, Anakin, the droid is- or _was_- valuable to the republic."

"In it's quest to drive me insane?" Anakin said, glancing at the broken droid. He thought of Ahsoka's face when she saw the remains and bent down to pick it up. "Fine. I'll fix it, if it really is that important."

"I'm sure you could," Obi-Wan said, "but the Council wants to speak with you. It'll have to wait."

Anakin glanced down at what remained of 448. "I'll put this in my quarters. Don't wait for me."

"Anakin-" Obi-Wan began, but Anakin stopped him with a look. "You cannot run from this, Anakin," he warned.

_No, _Anakin thought. _I can't run. I want to... but I can't. I'm a coward._

"Don't wait for me," he repeated, and left, a large weight settling on his shoulders.

...

Darth Sidious studied his new apprentice intently. Of course, she had not yet turned completely to the dark side, but that was to be expected. He could use this to his advantage. Jedi were so self-sacrificing it was almost sickening, but here, it would work to his advantage. She would not leave him as long as her friends were in danger.

Bane landed the ship and Sidious, Ahsoka, and the two commando droids exited once again.

The girl suddenly glanced over at him. "You aren't going to kill them behind my back, are you?" she asked warily.

Sidious shook his head. Did she take him for a fool? "Of course not, my young apprentice. You keep your word and I will keep mine."

Sidious could tell she didn't like being called his apprentice, but she didn't say a word.

"Give me back my lightsabers," she said suddenly.

Sidious allowed a smile to cross his face. "You will not be needing them anymore. Your lightsabers, like your Padawan status, are no longer a part of your life." He reached into his robe and handed her another lightsaber. "You will use this until you can build one more to your liking."

The disgust was obvious on Ahsoka's face as she took in the thick, ridged handgrip. Sidious has purposely given her an opposite hilt than what she preferred, so she would have more trouble using it. She would not be able to strike him down so easily. Her eyes widened when she activated the blade and took in the blood-red colour, then she looked back to Sidious, anger building within her.

Sidious smiled slightly. This would be an interesting experience...

...

Anakin bowed to the members of the Council, doing his best to appear calm. He felt like he had when he had arrived at the Temple nearly 13 years earlier- nervous.

_How does one tell the top members of the Order that your Padawan has joined the Sith?_

"Skywalker," Mace Windu said nodding. "We understand your mission to meet with Cad Bane did not go well."

_There is the understatement of the millennium..._

"No, Master," Anakin said. "The whole thing was a plot by the Sith to capture Ahsoka and turn her to the dark side. The Sith Lord used a Force Storm to bring our ship to Korriban."

Yoda gazed intently at Anakin. "Join Dooku, she did?"

Anakin shook his head. "The Sith wasn't Dooku. It was a Force presence I've never felt before. He had a hood up the whole time. He sounded human, but I couldn't tell." He wished he had payed more attention to the Sith Lord, but he had been too worried about Ahsoka.

"Go on, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sucked in a breath. "Bane was waiting for us. He knocked Ahsoka unconscious and trapped me under a pile of rocks." He winced, remembering how easily Bane had taken him out. "When I got free, he had taken Ahsoka and left. I followed her Force-signature to the Sith. When I found her she-" Anakin faltered for a moment, remembering. "She was pledging herself to the ways of the dark side."

Yoda and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance, and Anakin couldn't help but wonder if the old Jedi Master knew about Ahsoka's training as well. But Yoda's face was unreadable as he said "A tragedy it is, to lose someone so young to the dark side."

"She hasn't turned to the dark side!" Anakin wondered how many times he would have to say it before someone believed him. In truth, he was starting to think he may have been wrong...

He pushed those thoughts away. Negative thinking wasn't going to bring Ahsoka back.

"Your story suggests otherwise, Skywalker," Ki-Adi-Mundi said quietly.

"We can bring her back," Anakin said. "Masters, let me go back to Korriban and look for her again, I can-"

"That would be foolish, Skywalker," Windu said. "The Sith is most likely not even on Korriban anymore, and we need you on the front lines, not chasing an unknown Sith all over the galaxy."

"No one has ever returned from the dark side," Adi Gallia reminded him.

"It's kind of hard to return from the dark side if the Jedi never attempt to bring anyone back!" Anakin countered. "Now that Ahsoka has supposedly gone to the dark side, I guess you'll be viewing her as a threat as well?"

The stares he received gave him his answer.

Anakin shook his head. "No. I won't believe this. I can bring her back!"

"You will remain on Coruscant for the time being," Windu said.

"Dismissed, you are," Yoda said. "Meditate on this, you should, young Skywalker. Clear your mind, you must, if seek you do, to return your Padawan to the light."

"Yes, Master," Anakin said, already heading for the door.

"Secrets, there should not be, between Master and Padawan," Yoda said. Anakin halted at the door and risked a look back at Yoda. The Master's eyes were filled with sorrow.

Anakin didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply nodded and exited the Council Chambers. Then he set off at a fast walk back to his quarters where a certain droid awaited repairs.

Anakin surveyed the mess that was 448. In his meeting with the wall, the droid had snapped off it's right leg at the knee and its chestplate was dented severely. His head sat at a strange angle and it's left hand was missing. The Jedi Knight sighed and got to work. This would take a while...

...

Ahsoka slashed at the two commando droids, while trying not to be cut with the vibro blades they were holding. This would normally have been extremely easy, but the Sith had told her that she couldn't use the Force unless she used the dark side. Ahsoka flatly refused to use the dark side unless absolutely necessary, so she was stuck fighting two droids with a Sith lightsaber and no Force use.

"Do not fear your anger, child, use it!" the Sith said from the side of the room. They were now in a large building that looked much like the factory this Sith had collapsed back on Coruscant. The dark side was much stronger here, though. Ahsoka struggled to focus through the temptation of the dark side.

Finally, the Sith signalled for them to stop. He approached them, and Ahsoka sensed he was displeased.

"Leave us," he commanded the droids. They obediently left the room. The shadowy man turned to Ahsoka. "Your old Master still has an affect on your life," he commented. "You cannot embrace the dark side until you have forgotten him."

Ahsoka was suddenly struck by a memory she didn't know she had.

_"If you are to survive, you must forget your Master," a small, but dangerous looking creature hissed..._

Ahsoka pulled herself back to the present. "Master Skywalker has been a big part of my life for almost two years. You cannot possibly expect me to forget about him in a day."

The Sith began to walk around her. "Earlier, you said you were willing to break your bond with Skywalker. If you want your friends to live, you will do so now."

Ahsoka took a step backwards. "No..."

She felt his anger flare. "And you would defy me?"

"Please," Ahsoka said, fear gripping her now. She had been bluffing when she said she would break the bond... that was something she couldn't do. "I'll do anything you ask, but I can't do that!"

The Sith continued to circle her. "You agreed to be my apprentice. This means you obey me, as you did Skywalker."

Ahsoka gave him a tiny smile. "I didn't obey Anakin all the time, either."

"You will break your bond with Skywalker, or I'll do it for you!" he hissed in anger.

Ahsoka raised all her mental shields as tight as possible. She couldn't allow him access to her mind. She silently willed Anakin to do the same, though she couldn't speak to him through their bond.

She felt the Sith gather the dark side. It surrounded her, trying to break her shields. She felt a dull ache in her head and shook off the pain. She had to concentrate. The dark side invaded her mind, despite her best efforts, but he hadn't broken the bond. Yet.

"You... can't do this," she gasped out, as the pain in her head intensified.

The Sith didn't answer, but simply increased his efforts. Ahsoka had heard that it was possible to use the Force to break the bond unwillingly between a Master and Padawan, but she had never seen it done. Now she knew why it was not a common thing at the Jedi Temple.

The pain she felt was incredible, she had never felt anything like it. The Sith lightning may have been painful on a physical level, but this was different. She could feel her Master's pain as well, as the Sith slowly tortured them both.

Then the bond snapped.

...

It had started out as a headache.

Anakin had figured it was from all the stress with the Council and Ahsoka, but as it slowly intensified, he knew that was not the case. He set the nearly finished 448 down and brought his hand up to his forehead. Pain clouded out everything else. Anakin attempted to use the Force to dull the pain, but it didn't work. If anything, it made it worse. He was suddenly aware of a sinister presence, the dark side clawing at his mind. He could sense Ahsoka more clearly than before, and she suffering as well.

A wave of darkness swept across their bond, and then with an explosion of agony, the bond was severed.

The pain began to subside, but a new pain took it's place. For second time in his life, Anakin couldn't sense Ahsoka. She was now just a Force presence, along with the thousands of other Jedi.

_She severed the bond, _he thought, still in a daze. _She really did it._

Was there truly any hope of saving his Padawan, or was he deluding himself?

**I hope you like it! Please review!**


	12. Dreams or Nightmares?

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Ahsoka stood motionless in the middle of the dark room. She no longer knew how long she had been there. The Sith had left some time ago, after punishing her for disobeying his orders.

_If I've learned one thing from the Sith, it's that Sith lightning really hurts..._

But worse was the pain in her mind.

She had tried so hard to repel the Sith's attack. Her attempts had been in vain, however; the Sith had still gotten what he wanted. Anakin would never take her back as an apprentice now. He most likely thought it was she that had severed the bond.

_What good are the Daughter's powers anyway? _She thought bitterly. _They have done nothing but get me into trouble, and I'm still not strong enough to destroy the Sith Lord!_

She suddenly became aware of how cold it was. Korriban was similar to the deserts of Tatooine. Warm during the day, and freezing at night. The Sith Lord obviously didn't mind it, the building had no heating unit.

Ahsoka lay down in a corner of the room and tried to make herself comfortable. She would need her strength if she were going to resist the dark side, but she doubted she was going to get much sleep on Korriban...

...

"Ahsoka."

Ahsoka whirled around to see the Daughter standing behind her.

_So, apparently sleep is possible here._

Dreading what the spirit had to say, she almost wished it weren't.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Do not apologize to me," the Daughter said. "Remember, Ahsoka, you aren't invincible. The Sith had been planning this for a while. All I could do was try to prepare you."

"And I still failed," Ahsoka said miserably.

"No," the Daughter said. "You saved two Jedi from certain death, and one from Sith captivity. I do not see that as failure."

Ahsoka nodded. "But Anakin will never take me back, now that the bond is broken."

"Do not be so sure," the Daughter said. "He is suffering, as you are, but he still believes he can bring you back."

"I don't deserve to go back," Ahsoka murmured.

"Do not think like that," the Daughter warned. "The Sith will use your remorse and self pity against you. He will continue to twist your mind until you really _do_ view the Jedi as enemies."

Subdued, Ahsoka looked down. "I wont turn to the dark side. I promise. But that Sith can read my mind, I can't hide anything from him, and he managed to break the bond!"

"I will teach you the highest level of mental shielding," the Daughter said. "The Sith will not be able to penetrate your mind then."

Ahsoka nodded eagerly, then frowned. "There is more going on here then just turning me to the dark side. I can feel it. What else is the Sith planning?"

The Daughter hesitated. "This is not a discussion for right now."

Ahsoka turned away, her anger flaring despite her best attempt to let it go. "Right. Two innocent lives are on the line, the Sith just broke the bond between my Master and me, you know something more about his plans and you won't tell me. This isn't just about me, is it?"

"Your insight serves you well," the Daughter said. "The Sith isn't just planning to turn you to the dark side. His ultimate goal is to rid the galaxy of light. He can start by turning you to the dark side, but there is another reason he is doing this."

Ahsoka turned back to her. "Are you going to make me guess?"

The spirit relented. "He is after Anakin."

"What?" Ahsoka knew she shouldn't have been surprised, but the news shocked her. But if the Sith had been after Anakin, why was it _she_ that had been taken?

"Think, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "You Master isn't close to a lot of people, but he would do almost anything for you. He knows from Dooku that Anakin would turn to the dark side to save you, and figured that you would do the same thing for your friends."

"He was right," Ahsoka said. Although she hated to admit it, this Sith was very smart. "But why did the Sith take me if he is after Anakin?"

The Daughter hesitated again.

"Tell me!" Ahsoka insisted. She briefly wondered if this was news she wanted to hear.

"The Sith knew what your fall would do to Anakin. He won't grieve for you and move on like most Jedi would. He will try his hardest to get you back. The Sith has ensured that you won't go back to him by holding one of your friends and a Jedi Master captive. In breaking the bond, he has distanced you from your Master, and misplaced his trust in you."

_I think I did a pretty good job of that on my own, _Ahsoka thought, but she remained silent and let the Daughter finish.

"He plans to have you meet again," the Daughter continued. "To show your Master what you have become. When Anakin has accepted the truth that you have truly fallen, the Sith will have him..."

"Kill me," Ahsoka finished, her eyes widening. "The Sith will have Anakin kill me, and doing so will drive him to the dark side."

The Daughter's sad look confirmed her suspicions.

"Anakin... wouldn't kill me!" Ahsoka shook her head vehemently. "He didn't before, he won't now! If the Sith will have us meet again, I'll tell him I haven't turned!"

The Daughter shook her head. "The Sith will threaten you with your friend's death if you do not do as he asks. He will ensure your silence one way or another."

"I..." Ahsoka was at loss for words. Of all the things she had expected, it hadn't been that. Was Anakin more important than Jinx?

_Of course. But the Sith probably has a backup plan should he be forced to kill Jinx and Master Oki. _

"I advise you to leave this place, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "Get off of Korriban before he can use you anymore."

Get off planet... that was the logical thing to do. But something was telling her to wait, to bide her time. This Sith was the key to the war, she was sure of it. Leaving meant letting a chance to end the wars slip through her fingers, and that was not something she was willing to do, even if it meant risking her life.

"No," she said aloud.

"What?" The Daughter looked surprised. "Your life is in danger. What more can you do here?"

"I can't get both Jinx and Master Oki out of here without risking their lives," Ahsoka reasoned. "They shouldn't have to die for my freedom. And," she added, "the Force is telling me I should remain here, for the time being. Concentrate, and you'll sense it as well."

The Daughter nodded slowly. "Very well. But know that if you choose to remain here, I will not be able to help you as much. The darkness on this planet restricts my ability to give you these dreams, and there is a chance the Sith might sense something is amiss."

"I understand," Ahsoka said. "Thank you for all the help you have given me, milady."

"You are welcome, young one. Remember all that your Master and I have taught you and you will not fall. But, if the Sith were to find out about the training you have received from me, he will not hesitate to kill you and your friends. He fears your power, and what it could be used for."

Ahsoka had grown tired of the Daughter's riddles. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The spirit didn't answer. "Come," she said at last. "I will show you a higher level of mental shielding."

Ahsoka stepped closer to the Daughter, wondering if, in making her decision, she had sentenced herself to death and doomed her Master to the dark side.

**Sorry for the short chapter.**

**Anakin and Ahsoka will be having a confrontation sometime soon. What planet do you think it should happen on? I'm open to any suggestions!**


	13. The Vision

**I am astounded by the response that this story continues to receive. I got 17 reviews for the last chapter! Thanks to everyone who has reveiwed!**

Ahsoka was barely able to contain her anger when the Sith Lord walked into the room the next morning. She had tolerated him before, but now that she knew what he was up to, she loathed the sight of him. She was tempted to take her lightsaber and kill him right there, but such an attempt would most likely get _her_ killed. Bane was around here somewhere, and she didn't know if the Sith had a hidden weapon somewhere up his sleeve.

She couldn't help Anakin if she was dead.

Ahsoka looked away from the Sith's shadowy face, reminding herself that he had a name. The Daughter had decided to reveal that much.

Darth Sidious.

She remembered Anakin once talking about Obi-Wan's first encounter with Dooku. The Count had claimed that a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious controlled the Senate. The Jedi Council had dismissed his statement as lies, but didn't this prove that Sidious really did exist?

_If this Sith Lord controls the Senate, doesn't that mean the republic is under the rule of the Sith?_

For the galaxy's sake, she hoped not.

"...Leaving Korriban tomorrow, if things go as planned."

Ahsoka snapped her head up. "What?"

"We will be leaving Korriban tomorrow, if things go as planned," Sidious repeated, sounding annoyed.

Ahsoka caught his accusing tone. He thought she was going to be a problem, but she had never wanted anything more than to get off that planet. She only hoped that they weren't going someplace worse.

"Where are we going?"

Sidious didn't answer for a minute. Finally, he spoke, and his sadistic tone made Ahsoka shudder, and the shadows cast by the torches mounted on the wall dance as if in fear.

"You've been there before. I'm sure you remember the planet where you first encountered Anakin Skywalker. You met there. Now one of you will die there."

Ahsoka stared wide-eyed at Sidious. He didn't know that she had learned of his plan to have Anakin kill her. Her strengthened mind shields had seen to that. Why would he say something like that? Unless...

Anakin's shocked and hurt face as they duelled on Mortis flashed through her mind as realization dawned on her.

This was how the Sith Lord planned to have Anakin kill her. For the second time, they would fight as enemies.

...

"Why did they make you a Jedi? Last time I checked, Jedi did not slam innocent beings, organic or not, into walls!"

Anakin turned to the window, trying to block out the noise of the ranting battle droid behind him. He could have kicked himself for not remembering to fix 448's sarcastic, temperamental attitude, but he had bigger problems to deal with.

It had been twelve hours since their bond had been severed, and his headache was gone. He was still in shock that Ahsoka really had severed the bond. It had been a severe reality check, and had forced him to accept that what 448 had said might have been true... that even if he found his Padawan, she might have fallen too far to be saved.

_If she has, what then? Could I kill her? If the Council finds out that she broke the bond, will they force me to kill her?_

The Council was another issue. They were dead set in their beliefs that Ahsoka had turned. If he told them that their bond had been severed, would he even have a hope of convincing them otherwise?

Ahsoka's face surfaced in his mind. _"I hate secrets."_

No, he decided. He would tell the Council about this. Some things were best left untold, but this was not one of them. And the Jedi Masters weren't on the Council for nothing, they were some of the best in the Order. They would most likely sense it when he next was called before them, if they hadn't already.

Anakin suddenly became aware of a new headache... brought on by the constant ramblings and threats of a certain battle droid. He turned to face 448. "Did you enjoy being smashed into a wall?" he demanded, interrupting 448's threat to 'shut down his power systems.'

"Does it _look _like I enjoyed being smashed into a wall?" the droid screeched. "My chest plate is permanently dented, and my hand is on backwards! And-"

"And if you don't stop talking, I will do it again," Anakin interrupted sharply. He hadn't been able to repair the chest plate, and he had been distracted when he had repaired the hand. Go figure that he would mess up on a battle droid.

448 went mute.

Anakin scowled and opened the door to his quarters. He needed to get away from this annoying nuisance. He was surprised to see Obi-Wan standing there with a tired smile on his face.

"What pleasure do you get out of torturing that droid?" he asked.

_That man has impeccable timing. Always arriving in time to hear or see me punish 448, but always too late to see what he did to earn it._

"What do you want?" he sighed, to worn out to argue.

Obi-Wan glanced at him curiously. "Anakin, are you alright?"

He could have given his former Master a hundred reasons right then why no, he was not alright, but he simply nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." He silently willed Obi-Wan to drop it, and was relieved when he nodded slowly.

"Well, the Council wants to see you, meaning you can... escape the droid for a while," Obi-Wan said, looking past Anakin at 448. He shook his head. "And you tell me I'm too cruel to your astromech droid!"

"I'll endure _Threepio _if I can get away from 448," Anakin said, brushing past Obi-Wan. He walked quickly down the corridor, and Obi-Wan followed.

"Anakin, tell me what happened. This goes beyond a disagreement with a droid."

_You have no idea,_ Anakin thought, but he didn't answer. He would speak to the full Council only, he didn't feel like repeating the story more then once.

There was an awkward silence between them as they reached the Council Chambers. Obi-Wan took his seat as Anakin bowed to the Jedi Masters.

Anakin noticed an expression of sadness on Yoda's face. Had he already sensed what had transpired?

"Happened, something has, between you and Padawan Tano," Yoda stated.

"Yes, Master," Anakin said, forcing himself to look at the little troll. "Our bond... has been severed."

A murmur rippled through the Council. Anakin saw Obi-Wan's shocked expression and lowered his head to stare at the ground. Could he have done something to prevent the bond from being broken? Why had Ahsoka broken the bond in the first place? He would have liked to believe that Ahsoka had been forced to by the Sith Lord, but he had no proof of anything.

Anakin looked up again to see some of the Council members exchanging glances. His heart sank as he realized his speculations were correct. The Jedi Council would now view Ahsoka as an enemy.

"I am sorry, Skywalker," Mace Windu said without a trace of emotion. "A fallen Jedi is always a tragedy."

Anakin remained silent. If he spoke, it would most likely harsh words, and he didn't need to get in trouble with the Council. He kept his face as blank as he could, but he had a feeling the Council members could still sense his frustration.

"We can arrange for you to take a new Padawan," Adi Gallia said. She continued to speak, but Anakin couldn't hear her over the rush of anger that had filled his ears. They thought they could just _replace_ Ahsoka? Only a day after he had lost her? It was the Jedi way to let go of your apprentice when the time came, but this was ridiculous.

_She isn't gone yet, _he reminded himself. Keeping that mantra running through his head was the only way for him to keep his sanity.

"To talk about your apprentice, call you here, we did not," Yoda said, saving him from responding. "An assignment, we have for you."

Anakin briefly wondered if they were giving him a new mission to take his mind off Ahsoka, but he merely nodded and waited for Yoda to continue.

"Received word, we have, of an impending separatist attack on a republic controlled system. Investigate, you and the 501st will," Yoda said.

Anakin frowned. Yoda hadn't told him the planet they would be going to. The little Jedi Master wasn't one to hold things back. What was going on?

"Which system?" Anakin asked, nearly dreading the answer.

"Christophsis."

The second the name left Yoda's mouth, Anakin was bombarded with images...

_"Ahsoka... why are you doing this?"_

_She didn't answer, but leaped over his head, striking out with a blood-red lightsaber as she did so..._

_Anakin struggled to hold off Ahsoka's attack. "Snips, stop! I don't want to fight you!"_

_Ahsoka shook her head. "You don't understand. You can't understand. I'm saving your life!"_

_"Through a lightsaber duel? Maybe I'd rather die, then..."_

"Anakin?"

Anakin' snapped back to the present. He blinked as he saw the Council assembled before him. Slowly, he realized what had happened, and his eyes widened in alarm.

He had had a vision of what was to come.

"I'm fine, Master," he told Obi-Wan, struggling to control his emotions. Was it Ahsoka's destiny to fall to the dark side? His firm belief that she had not turned was considerably weakened by the vision. It had been bad enough that he had been forced to fight Ahsoka once. But now he would have to fight her a second time?

He was almost tempted to tell the Council to send someone else to Christophsis, but he caught himself at the last second. If anyone but him went, Ahsoka would be killed. And, if he suggested someone else went, they would question him. He didn't want to share his vision just then.

"I can leave for Christophsis immediately," he added.

Mace Windu nodded slowly, obviously he and a few other Council members were still suspicious at his 'lapse in concentration'. "May the Force be with you."

Anakin bowed as he left the Council Chambers, but paused at the door. "I will _never_ take another Padawan," he said quietly. Without waiting for a response, he left.

A new darkness was approaching.

**I know that many of you suggested Tatooine, but Christophsis just worked better. Thanks to Ahsokasister for suggesting it! **

**Please reveiw!**


	14. Revelation

**Thanks for all the reveiws! Oh, you guys are going to hate me for this chapter...**

Clone Captain Rex tucked his helmet under his arm as he entered the war room of the _Resolute. _He frowned when he saw General Skywalker staring expressionlessly at the holomap of Christophsis. Something was up with the General.

It was no secret among the 501st that Ahsoka was gone, but no one knew what had happened to her. Anakin had just told the troopers that she had left, but Rex could feel that there was something else going on.

"General," he said, saluting the Knight.

"At ease, Captain," Anakin said without looking up.

Rex studied the holomap for a few seconds. "Republic Intelligence intercepted a transmission between a separatist general and a droid commander, planning an attack on Christophsis, Crystal City in particular. We should be coming out of hyperspace in a few minutes, sir."

"Very good Rex," Anakin said. His brow furrowed as he activated the map of Crystal City. "There are a million planets out there; why did the separatists have to take a liking the Christophsis?"

Rex was puzzled by the General's question, but suddenly remembered something. "Sir, a while back, the clankers set up a mining base near the planet's core. The entrance is near Crystal City. They were forced to evacuate when we found out what they were up to, but the base is still there."

Anakin nodded, looking absent. Suddenly he glanced up at Rex, who was shocked to finally see his face. His eyes were dull and held none of the eager spark Rex normally saw before a battle. His tired face was tainted blue from the glow of the holomap making him look like a ghost. Rex had seen that look on the faces of far too many beings during the war... beings who had lost someone close to them. Beings who had been broken in battle.

Had the Clone Wars finally succeeded in breaking Anakin Skywalker?

_How... why did this happen? _Rex wondered. Anakin was one of the strongest men he knew. What would it take to make him like this?

_Ahsoka._

It was a simple answer, but Ahsoka was the only one Rex was aware of that Anakin knew on a personal level, besides General Kenobi. Commander Tano had disappeared, and although Rex wasn't sure what had happened to her, if it made Anakin this upset, it had to be bad.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what really happened to Commander Tano?"

Anakin studied him for a moment, as if deciding if he could be trusted with the information. Then he spoke a sentence that Rex never thought he would hear.

"The Sith have her and the Council thinks she's turned to the dark side."

"Sir?" Rex stared at the Jedi in shock. He didn't know much about the Sith, but the things he had heard about them were not good. And if Ahsoka had been taken by the Sith...

Anakin began to pace. "I find it convenient that Ahsoka is taken by a Sith Lord, and only two days later, the separatists attack the planet where I first met her."

Rex frowned again. The General had a very good point, but he still didn't know where he was going with this. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Sir."

"I don't think this was ever about the separatists," Anakin said.

"You don't think the separatists really are planning an attack on Christophsis?"

Anakin shook his head. "I think the separatist attack is a cover for what really is going on."

"You think this... Sith is on Christophsis?" Rex was starting to understand the General's line of thinking. But how had he figured this out? Before he could ask, another trooper entered the war room.

"General, we have entered the Christophsis system. There is no sign of the separatists."

"Very good, Fives," Anakin said. "Rex, come with me."

Without another word, the Jedi left the war room. Rex exchanged a look with his brother.

"What's up with the General?" Fives questioned.

"It's a long story," Rex said, before nodding to him and following Anakin out of the war room. Truth be told, Rex wasn't sure he even knew what was wrong with him. Just when he thought he had Anakin figured out, the Jedi found a new way to confuse him.

...

The more Anakin thought about his theory, the more he became convinced it was correct. He could sense something dark on Christophsis, but it was deceiving. He had felt the same presence on Korriban, and, combined with the vision he had received in the Temple, he was sure this was a trap for him personally.

_How could the Sith have figured out that I met Ahsoka on Christophsis? _That was the only flaw in his reasoning. That knowledge wasn't exactly public.

_Unless Ahsoka told him._

His hope that Ahsoka would be able to resist the dark side had nearly faded. He didn't have it in him to argue anymore, and all evidence pointed to her fall.

And on top of that, it looked like he was going to have to fight her again.

It was impossible for him to stop thinking about their duel on Mortis. Ahsoka had always been great with a lightsaber, but with the power of the dark side behind her, she had been an unstoppable whirl of dark energy. He hadn't wanted to fight her in the first place; because of that, she had controlled the duel.

_Unless you get it together, that's going to happen again._

He arrived at the hangar to see the clones preparing for the mission ahead.

"What are your orders, General?" Rex asked from behind him.

Anakin turned to face him. "Perform a sweep of the city and the area surrounding it. Also, there's an abandoned separatist base in Crystal City as well."

"What about you, Sir?"

Anakin shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll catch up with you later. There's something I need to take care of." He headed for his starfighter. Something about Rex's comment about the mining base had stuck with him.

"Good luck with that Sith, General."

Anakin nodded, but didn't turn around. He was going to need a lot more than luck if he was going to make it through this mission.

...

_Sidious seems to love dark places, _Ahsoka thought as she followed him through the mining tunnels of Christophsis. First the factory in The Works, then the Sith Temple and Sidious's base on Korriban, now the CIS mining base on Christophsis.

_It ends here, though. _

Ahsoka knew she was not strong enough to kill Sidious on her own. Anakin, however, was supposedly the Chosen One, destined to destroy the Sith. He was strong enough.

But if Sidious convinced Anakin to kill her, it would drive him to the dark side and the Force would never be balanced.

"We are here," the Sith Lord said. He waved a hand, and a door to their right slid open. Ahsoka stepped tentatively inside the dimly lit room and glanced warily around. The circular room was made completely of the green crystals that covered the rest of Christophsis, and it was fairly large. The glow rods on the wall did little to light the room.

Bane roughly pushed Jinx and his Master into the room after her. Ahsoka was relieved that they were still alive, considering all the the times she had refused to listen to Sidious.

Sidious turned to her. "Your former Master is here, just as I have foreseen."

Ahsoka blinked. "He's here? In the base?"

Sidious shook his head. "Not yet. He is in Crystal City, but I have seen that he will come here." His Force-presence suddenly darkened and Ahsoka frowned.

"Why would he come here? Why do _you_ want him to come here?"

She could sense that he was amused. "He is coming to save you. Here is where you can prove your loyalty to me, child. You will decide who becomes my apprentice. It will remain you, or I can easily take him."

"You never wanted me in the first place." Ahsoka's eyes widened as she realized her slip. She wasn't supposed to know that.

"What makes you think that, my young apprentice?" Sidious's voice had gone down to soft and threatening.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Just a guess," she said, trying to cover up her mistake. "Had you really wanted me, you would have cared more that I'm not acting like a true Sith."

"You aren't a very good liar, Tano," Sidious said in the same threatening tone. In a swift move, he used the force to lift Master Oki and suspended him between them. The Jedi struggled, but could do nothing. Sidious lit his lightsaber and said in a harsher tone, "the truth, or he dies!"

"It was a vision!" Ahsoka said, thinking quickly. "You chose Anakin over me, and I knew it had to mean something!"

Sidious's blade flickered for a moment. "Tell me, child. Why would I choose Skywalker over a Jedi of your power?"

Ahsoka placed a hand on her own weapon. "Do not insult my intelligence by pretending the Sith have no knowledge of the prophecy of the Chosen One," she said boldly. She knew she was taking risks now, but she was tired of hiding under the mask of the obedient servant. "You fear my power, and don't dare try to pretend otherwise. It would be easier for you to take an apprentice who has the potential to be a great Sith, instead of a Jedi who can be trained only in the light side." Again she realized her slip. How would she know she would could only be trained in the light side?

Sidious looked at her intently from under his hood. "I have suspected something like this for a while. However, I would very much like to know how you found this out."

Ahsoka summoned the Force and sent a round of Electric Judgement at an unsuspecting Bane. It threw him away from Jinx and he slammed into a wall, knocking him unconscious. "That is a secret I'll take to my grave."

She sensed he was scowling. "Unfortunately, you'll be taking it to your grave much sooner than you would have wished."

...

Anakin stood at the entrance to the separatist mining base, sensing the dark side swirling far below. He had no doubts that Ahsoka was down there. He used the Force to open the door and entered the lift tube that would carry him down to his apprentice, and hopefully some answers.

...

Ahsoka looked over at Jinx, who was staring at her, wide-eyed. She knew he had learned more about her in the past two days than in all of their friendship, but she wished he had learned it some other way.

_If I can't keep my mouth shut, he isn't going to live to remember this..._

But, part of her wished she had done this earlier.

Ahsoka turned her attention back to Sidious. "Tell me, _Master,_ what makes you think that Anakin would ever kill me? He didn't before, why would he now?"

She felt a flicker of surprise from Sidious, but it was quickly squashed. "You would be surprised what people do with the right manipulations," he said evenly. She noted that he wasn't denying anything, which was unusual. It was almost as if he were making small talk...

She felt somebody enter the corridor outside their room through her montrals, but made nothing of it. It was probably just a droid. Through the Force, she felt Sidious's anticipation.

_But for what?_

Ahsoka suddenly felt a familiar presence just outside the room, and at the same time, Sidious's lightsaber flashed toward her. She raised her own weapon, but Sidious's didn't even come close to her. Instead...

Master Eekar Oki's body dropped to the ground at the same time Anakin walked in the door.

...

Anakin stopped dead at the sight in front of him. Jinx's Master lay dead on the floor, while Ahsoka stood over him with her red lightsaber raised. The Sith Lord reached over and patted Ahsoka on the shoulder.

"Well done, my young apprentice. Very well done."

**I'm feeling quite evil at the moment. XD Anyway, I'm getting out of here before the mobs come after me with pitchforks...**

**Please reveiw! :D**


	15. Murderer

**I do not own Star Wars.**

**I'm ba-aack! I'm sooo sorry for the long delay, I had a mixture of writers block and laziness. Anyway, thank you to everyone for the reveiws! I hope you like this chapter!**

Total silence settled over the room. Ahsoka whirled around and watched as Anakin looked from her to Eekar's body and back to her with horror dawning on his face. In that moment, Ahsoka realized that she had fallen into Sidious's trap the moment she had begun pretending to be his apprentice. Everything, the broken bond, the red lightsaber, and the fact that Sidious had chosen Christophsis for their confrontation, had led up to this act. The act that would lead Anakin to believe she had fully turned to the dark side.

Then there was the fact that Eekar Oki was now dead. She had failed in her mission to keep her friends safe. Jinx had been left without a Master, and Anakin would think she had turned to the dark side.

Ahsoka turned back to Sidious. His lightsaber was gone. He held no sign of ever committing a murder.

"I thought that you could resist the dark side," a quiet, blank voice said from behind her. "I thought that by training you against it, helping you to be prepared, I could make you strong enough to avoid it. This," Anakin gestured to Master Oki's body, "proves I was wrong."

Ahsoka slowly turned around again, not wanting to see disappointment on his face. However, his face was as blank as his voice. Only his eyes held any hint of the storm of emotions she knew he was feeling.

"I didn't kill him, Master," she said, deactivating her lightsaber.

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Really? So you just happened to activate that lightsaber at the same time he died? Convenient."

"I didn't kill him!" Ahsoka insisted. "He-" she pointed to Sidious- "framed me!"

"Come now, child," the shadowy Sith said. "Do not feel guilty for killing the Jedi. He needed to die at some point."

"I will not feel guilt for a crime I didn't commit," Ahsoka said, narrowing her eyes at him. But, she did indeed feel guilt for Eekar's death, for not being quick enough to save him.

Anakin sensed that she was lying, though. "Why should I believe anything you say, Ahsoka? You left the Jedi Order and joined the dark side. You broke our bond. You killed a Jedi with a Sith lightsaber. Why should I believe you? _How _can I believe you?"

Ahsoka bowed her head as she realized that he was right. She hadn't actually done any of those things, but she hadn't acted innocently either. The building she had pulled down on Korriban was proof of that.

"I haven't turned to the dark side," Ahsoka said. "Surely you can sense I'm telling the truth." She looked at him, silently pleading for him to believe her.

But Anakin shook his head. "I don't know what to think anymore. You are surrounded by the dark side."

_We all are, _Ahsoka thought. The dark side clouded everything; not many Jedi could sense what the future held anymore.

"You never gave up on me on Mortis," Ahsoka said quietly.

Anakin shot her a sharp glance. "That was a completely different situation. You had no control over what you were doing."

_I don't have much control over this situation either, _Ahsoka thought. They were all being controlled by Sidious, manipulated like puppets on a string.

_When Anakin accepts the truth that you have truly fallen, the Sith will have him kill you..._

When the daughter had first spoken those words, Ahsoka had dismissed them as ridiculous, but she was beginning to think that it was actually a possibility. This Sith wanted them to duel, and with a strange lightsaber, there was no way she could beat her Master. She had to get Jinx out of there so that Sidious no longer had a bargaining tool.

She threw a subtle glance at Jinx. His hands and feet were bound, and he couldn't talk through the gag in his mouth, but if she could free his hands and feet, he could get away.

Ahsoka slowly turned so she was facing Jinx. This would only work if she could catch Sidious by surprise. She kept her thoughts carefully shielded as she gripped her lightsaber tighter. She leaped forward, aiming her lightsaber so that it would slice through the bonds, not Jinx's skin, but surprisingly, Sidious did nothing to stop her. Instead, she was forced to bring up her lightsaber so she wouldn't be speared on a meter of blue energy.

Red met blue, and Ahsoka found herself looking up at her Master.

"I never thought of you as a murderer, Sni-Ahsoka," Anakin said as they locked blades. "But I've been wrong before."

"You thought I was going to..." Ahsoka stared at Anakin as she realized what he had mistaken her act for.

Behind them, Sidious laughed. "Very good, my young apprentice," he said, though Ahsoka couldn't tell if he was talking to her, or the apprentice he wanted, Anakin. She realized that she had, again, fallen into Sidious's trap. In an attempt to prevent a duel between them, she had made it happen.

She jumped backwards, then dove forward in an attempt to free Jinx again, but Anakin blocked her attempt.

"Don't touch him!"

"I'm not trying to kill him!"

Ahsoka realized that she would have to disarm Anakin in order to get him to listen to her. She angled her lightsaber for his hilt, intending to knock it out of his hands, but he twisted away, then brought his blade back against hers.

"Ahsoka... why are you doing this?"

She didn't answer, but leaped over his head, striking out with her lightsaber as she did so. Anakin quickly brought up his lightsaber to block her. "Snips, stop! I don't want to fight you!"

_You have a funny way of showing it, _Ahsoka thought, landing behind him. But this was for a reason. This wasn't like their last duel, although she was getting mad at the fact that he refused to listen to anything she said.

"You don't understand," she said. "You can't understand. I'm saving your life!"

"Though a lightsaber duel?" he asked incredulously. "Maybe I'd rather die, then!"

Ahsoka frowned at him, slashing out again. "This would be a lot easier on all of us if you would just give up your lightsaber."

Anakin shook his head. "I won't let you kill Jinx."

"I'm not _trying _to kill Jinx!" Ahsoka yelled, her temper starting to get the better of her. "Open your eyes, Master! I'm not a murderer!"

She swung her lightsaber again, but there was anger behind the strike. Had she not been so focused on the fight, she would have heard Sidious cackle behind them...

...

Captain Rex frowned under his helmet as he watched the troopers ready for the coming battle.

They had set up heavy guard outside the republic base. All heavy weapons were being moved in front of the base. Rex stood outside, waiting for word of any droid sightings.

There had been no separatist activity in Crystal City, but a squad of troopers had been dispatched to search the city. He wondered if General was right, if the droid attack was a cover for the Sith Lord.

_Except there are no droids..._

His comlink crackled to life. "Captain, there are droids entering the city from the west!"

"Very good, Flash," Rex said. He turned to the trooper beside him. "Alert the other troopers."

"Yes, sir," the clone answered, and Rex ended the transmission.

For several minutes, all was quiet. The natives of the planet had all been evacuated from the area and the only life-forms around were the clones.

Then Rex heard a faint explosion. Around him, the troopers readied their blasters, as another explosion was heard. Then, into view marched hundreds of battle droids.

Rex dove for cover as the air grew thick with blaster fire. Crouching behind a ruined tank, he realized there weren't as many droids as he had originally thought, but there was enough to make a serious threat.

_But not enough to capture the city._

It looked like General Skywalker had been correct. Rex figured that the droids were a distraction, to keep the clones occupied while the General went and dealt with that Sith Lord. He peered out from behind the building, blasting a droid back into it's fellow machines. There was still a large number of droids marching through the streets around the base and his brothers were dying around him.

All he could do was keep fighting, and hope that the General and Commander Tano could reinforce them.

...

He couldn't believe this was happening again.

As Anakin crossed blades with Ahsoka, he silently wondered what he could have done to prevent this.

_Nearly skewering her with my lightsaber probably wasn't the best idea..._

He had done it almost instinctively, without thinking about it. It had saved Jinx's life, so he was thankful... but he regretted doing it.

He was confused. Ahsoka's motives weren't entirely clear. She had killed a Jedi Master, which he still couldn't believe, and tried to kill Jinx. Now, engaged in a lightsaber duel with him, she didn't seem to be trying to kill him, she simply appeared to be trying to disarm him.

_That could change at any second, _he reminded himself. He blocked another strike, then Force-pushed her backward. She flew back, landing on Jinx. The force of it had knocked Jinx unconscious, but Ahsoka staggered unsteadily to her feet. "And you accuse _me _of wanting him dead," she said, anger in her tone.

Anakin winced. _That didn't work..._

It was very obvious that she had turned to the dark side. Why did she refuse to admit it?

_Open your eyes, Master! I'm not a murderer!_

The fact remained that Eekar was dead. All the evidence pointed to Ahsoka, but could she have just been another victim?

Anakin didn't know who to believe anymore. His whole life had turned into an intricately woven web of lies.

"Skywalker, I must admit, I am surprised that you are so upset over the death of a single life-form," the Sith Lord said. "After all, you are familiar with death, are you not? Or have you forgotten about what happened on Tatooine?"

Anakin froze, lowering his lightsaber. He _couldn't_ have meant what Anakin thought he did... no one knew but Padme and Chancellor Palpatine...

"Let me see if I can jog your memory," the Sith went on in a pleasant tone, as if they were discussing the weather. "A few years ago, at the beginning of the Clone Wars, you received visions that someone close to you was dying. Tortured to death. You decided to go and try to save her. On Tatooine, you discovered that the person in your visions had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. When you found her at the Tusken camp, she died in your arms."

Anakin could only stare at the Sith Lord. How had he found this out? He hadn't discussed this in nearly three years. His mother had died, and that had been painful enough, but he now lived with the guilt over what had happened after that...

"When she died, you flew into a rage. A true Jedi would have accepted the death, and let that person pass out of his life, but not you. Instead, you killed every single living being in that camp. The men. The woman. Even the children, who had done nothing wrong."

Anakin couldn't look at Ahsoka. He wasn't any better than her. He was worse.

"Is this... _true, _Master?" she asked quietly. "Did you really kill all those innocent people?"

He gripped his lightsaber tighter. "They weren't innocent! They were mindless beasts!" Images flashed before him, dozens of creatures dying by his hand...

Anakin couldn't think about that anymore. The same rage he had felt on that day was beginning to surface again, if he didn't get it under control, things wouldn't end well for anyone.

"I don't believe it," Ahsoka said, her voice hard and accusing. "You jump to conclusions and think I've killed someone without even bothering to listen to me, and meanwhile, you've killed more people than I have in almost three years of war! Who is the real murderer here, Master?"

Anger.

It crept up through him until it became his entire world, it whispered for him to silence the traitor behind him. _Who is she to judge you__? _it hissed to him.

Without thinking twice, Anakin whirled around, raising his lightsaber, intending to disarm Ahsoka.

Too late, he realized that Ahsoka had lowered her lightsaber and had been unsuspecting of his sudden strike. He couldn't stop his swing, he had put too much power behind it.

Two gasps rang out through the room as Anakin and Ahsoka both stared at the lightsaber gash that ran from her right shoulder, narrowly missing her right lekku, to her left lekku. He locked eyes with her, watching as her eyes clouded with pain. But she didn't make a sound as she crumpled to the ground.

Heart racing, Anakin dropped to his knees beside her. "What have I done?" he whispered.

She coughed, looking up at him with a faint smile. "We have got to stop ending our duels with me getting injured," she said hoarsely, but lightly, and in that moment, Anakin knew he had been wrong.

Wrong about her. Wrong about Eekar.

Wrong about everything.

All she had told him had been true.

"I'm so sorry," he told her, wishing he could go back five minutes- five seconds, and change things. "About everything."

Ahsoka looked up at him. "I think... we both made a few mistakes," she said.

"You didn't do anything," Anakin said, watching her struggle to breathe. "I wish I could have seen that earlier."

Ahsoka drew a painful breath and reached for something on her belt. She held out her hand, and Anakin saw her Padawan braid.

"Ahsoka-"

"Take it," she said, pressing it into his hand. Anakin did so, feeling a sense of panic. "Stay with me, Ahsoka" he told her.

"Promise me that you won't turn... to the dark side," she said, her voice so quiet he had to lean close to hear her.

"I won't... but you have to stay with me," he said quickly, seeing her close her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly. He felt her life-force fading, and it finally sunk in.

He was exactly what he had called her, only a few minutes before.

A murderer.

**Yeah, I know, I disappear for a few weeks, then come back with another cliffhanger. Sorry about that- actually, no I'm not! XD**

**Please reveiw! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can!**


	16. Choices

***Smacks forehead* Has it really been 20 days since I last updated? Yikes! Sooo sorry for the long wait- it won't happen again!**

**200 reviews! YAY! Thank you An Ahsoka Tano Fan for the 200th reveiw, and thank you to everyone who reveiwed! I hope you guys like this chapter!**

Sidious had won.

That much was clear to Ahsoka. If she had learned one thing from this twisted experience, it was that this Sith Lord was a master manipulator who could turn anything to his advantage.

She had thought she could handle things. She had thought that she could convince her Master that she hadn't turned, and that Sidious was the real enemy. What she hadn't counted on was Sidious's brilliance. He had counted on her overconfidence and used it against her. He had twisted Anakin's thinking until he saw her as an enemy. And he had fed her Master's anger until he had struck her down.

Ahsoka was dying, and they both knew it. Somewhere above the haze of pain she was feeling, she could hear her Master calling her name. She could feel his regret through the Force, and it suddenly struck her that he was suffering nearly as much as she was.

At least she could take a small amount of comfort in knowing that she would leave him as a friend, not an enemy. An apprentice, not an opponent.

She would die with some peace.

Using the last of her strength, Ahsoka reached out to the Force, attempting to reach Anakin through a trace of their missing bond. She sensed he knew what she was trying to do, and did the same. For one brief second, something flickered between them, a ghostly reminder of the bond they had once had.

Then she felt nothing at all.

...

Anakin froze as he felt all life leave Ahsoka. For one moment, all he could do was stare at her lifeless body.

He had killed her.

She had done nothing wrong and he had killed her.

"No," he whispered. Guilt tore through him like blaster fire. He looked down at her Padawan braid, then back to Ahsoka's body. Words from a vision he had received months ago surfaced in his head.

_If you continue to train her, Ahsoka Tano will not live to become a Jedi Knight._

Anakin closed his eyes in an attempt to hold back his grief. He was surrounded by death all the time on the battlefield, but this was different.

This was the girl he had loved like a sister, and he had killed her.

"There is nothing more that you can do for her."

Anakin stood up and turned to face the Sith Lord. "Monster!" he hissed, barely recognizing his own voice. It was dark with anger. "Who are you? How did you know about Tatooine?"

"Many know me by the name Darth Sidious," the Sith said, walking slowly toward him. Anakin frowned; that voice was very familiar. He had heard it before. If this really was Darth Sidious, then had Dooku been telling the truth? Were the Sith really controlling the Senate?

"You are very strong in the dark side," the Sith commented, as if he was making a statement about the weather. Anakin looked around for his lightsaber; he had dropped it after he had hurt Ahsoka. He spotted it on the floor by Sidious's foot and called to his hand through the Force, activating it as soon as it hit his hand.

"I should kill you for what you did to Ahsoka," he said angrily.

"What _I _did?" Sidious said, not seeming to care that there was a deadly weapon pointed at his face. "Did _I _kill your Padawan, Skywalker? Did _I _fight her in a duel to the death?"

"I saw those marks on her arms," Anakin said, once again pushing back his grief. He had known what caused the marks as soon as he had seen them. "How long did you torture her with Sith lightning?"

"I did what I had to to keep her in line," Sidious said. "She refused to do as I asked, so I was forced to discipline her."

Anakin glared at him. "You forced her to break our bond, didn't you?"

Sidious shook his head. "No, Skywalker. _I _broke your bond."

Anakin blinked. "What?" He knew he shouldn't have been surprised, but he had been so convinced that it had been Ahsoka. Another grudge that he would never get to apologize for having.

"Tano tried very hard prevent me from breaking your bond. But, the more she struggled, the more pain it caused her. I must say," Sidious's mouth turned upward in a slight smile. "Her loyalty to you was quite astounding. Obviously, you do not return the-"

"Enough!" Anakin shouted, pointing his lightsaber threateningly at Sidious's face.

"You wouldn't kill me," Sidious said. Anakin didn't like his confident tone.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't," he said.

"What if I told you," Sidious began, his voice low, yet calm, "that there was a way to stop people from dying?"

...

Yoda stirred from his deep meditation. He looked across his quarters at Mace Windu, who had been meditating with him. Mace frowned.

"Did you sense that, Master?"

"Yes," Yoda said. There was more darkness surrounding them then ever before. He sensed the eye of the hurricane of darkness was Christophsis. "A mistake, I fear we made, in sending Skywalker to Christophsis."

"What do you mean, Master?" Windu asked. "Skywalker simply is pursuing a possible separatist threat."

Yoda closed his eyes again. "Happened, something has, to Padawan Tano."

Mace's frown deepened. "You think... Skywalker has something to do with it?"

"Skywalker is in pain," Yoda said simply. The dark side clouded everything, but he could a least sense that much. "Terrible pain..."

...

"Ahsoka."

Ahsoka opened her eyes, feeling disoriented. The pain she had been feeling moments ago was gone. She looked around, but everything was dark. She couldn't see a thing. The ground she was lying on was as hard as stone.

_Is this what death is?_

"Ahsoka," the voice said again. Ahsoka blinked as the Daughter emerged from the darkness. The faint glow that surrounded her was the only light around.

"Where am I?" Ahsoka asked. She glanced down at the lightsaber slash that ran across her chest. It was a miracle her lekku had not been severed; if she hadn't turned her head when she had, her right lekku would have been several inches shorter. All the same, she still felt strange...

"You have become one with the Force, Ahsoka," the Daughter explained.

"This is the Force?" Ahsoka cast a sceptical eye toward the Daughter.

"Not quite. Call it the road between the living and the dead, if you wish."

"Why am I here?"

The Daughter gave Ahsoka the look she had become accustomed to seeing when the spirit was going to tell her something unpleasant. "You have to go back to your Master."

Ahsoka stared at her. _Is that even possible? _Then she remembered who she was talking to. "I-I can't. After everything I've put him through already? I can't go back! What if I hurt him again?" _What if he hurts me?_

The Daughter could sense her unspoken words however. "You would hurt him more by not going back. What he did to you was an accident. He would never hurt you purposely."

"Do not be so sure."

Ahsoka froze as she heard the cold voice from behind her. Several images flashed through her head as she turned to face the Son. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

"This does not concern you, brother," the Daughter said calmly. Ahsoka couldn't believe her eyes. After all the Son had done to her, how could the Daughter even stand to look at him?

_Maybe it's the same as me and Anakin, _she thought. _I care about him, and he didn't mean to hurt me. Does the Daughter really care for her brother?_

"What are you doing here?" she said coldly. The Daughter may have forgiven the Son, but this was the being that had controlled her, killed her, then turned her Master to the dark side.

The Son's piercing red gaze shifted to her. "Do you know that even my dear sister has been keeping secrets from you? Secrets about your Master's future?"

"What are you talking about?" Ahsoka turned to the Daughter and noticed that she had grown considerably paler.

"Do not tell her, brother!" she pleaded. "She cannot know!"

"What can't I know?" Ahsoka asked, getting tired of being ignored.

"If you go back, your Master will suffer for it," the Son warned.

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka eyed the Son suspiciously. She was suddenly struck with a vision, although she could still hear the Daughter's cry of dismay.

_Blue against blue, they fight across the boiling river of lava on mining droids. A single misstep and one of them will fall into the river. The taller of the two men attacks mercilessly, while the shorter one shows remarkable defence techniques. Suddenly, the shorter man leaps off the droid and lands on the high river bank. He shouts a warning to the other man, but Ahsoka is too far away to hear his words. The attacker attempts to make the jump as well, but just short of th__e bank, the shorter man slices off his legs at the knee. His blade then comes up to take his left arm._

_The attacker falls down the bank, slipping dangerously close to the lava. The other man shouts down to him, but again, Ahsoka cannot hear him. Just then, the attacker slips too close to the lava and his clothes catch fire. She can hear him screaming in agony, as he is engulfed in flames.__ Then he shouts, and now Ahsoka can hear his words, thick with pain._

_"I hate you!"_

_With horror that__ floods he__r like an electric shock, Ahsoka realizes that the one burning alive is __her Master..._

With a jerk, she came back to reality. She opened her eyes, half-afraid that she was going to see Anakin burning again, but instead, the Son and Daughter stood in front of her. The Daughter wore an expression of sorrow. The Son's face was unreadable, as usual.

"I hope you're happy," the Daughter said quietly to her brother, but Ahsoka barely heard her. Anakin's screams rang in her ears, drowning out everything else.

"_I hate you!"_

Who in the galaxy had her Master been fighting? Who was skilled enough to defeat Anakin, who was one of the best sword-fighters in the galaxy?

Ahsoka took a deep breath, then looked the Son in the eye. "You're lying."

"Am I?"

"How can that fight be _my_ fault? Why is it so important that I stay here?"

"If you go back, your Master will burn. If you stay here, his fate will be gentler," the Son said.

"Why do you care?" Ahsoka asked. "I don't know what you showed Anakin, but it was enough to make him turn to the dark side. You forced me to fight him. So, excuse me if I'm a little sceptical about your motives."

"With good reason," the Son agreed. "But I assure you that I am not lying. Ask my sister, if you wish."

Ahsoka turned to the Daughter. "Is he telling the truth?"

The Daughter exhaled. "Nothing is set in stone. But, if your Master does engage in that battle, know that it will not be your fault."

Ahsoka glared at her. "For once, could you please give me a straight answer?" she snapped.

"Please, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "Listen to me! My brother does not want the prophecy of the Chosen One to come to pass! If you don't go back, there is a very good chance that won't happen!"

"What happened to 'nothing is set in stone'?" Ahsoka asked, turning away. "Anakin doesn't even care about that prophecy!" She couldn't think about this when she was being pressured from all sides.

_What would Anakin want me to do? _

That was easy; if he were here, he'd be begging for her to come back. She realized that this was a decision she would have to make by herself.

It would be so easy to just say no and never go back again. She would never hurt, or be hurt by Anakin again, and she would leave the war zone for good. But, that would be selfish- and unfair to her Master. She knew that he had been struggling with his anger, and now he alone with a Sith Lord... Anakin would be very easy prey.

But, if she went back, she would also face the possibility of being expelled from the Jedi Order for joining Sidious. Then there was the vision she had just received. It would haunt her for a very long time. What if she went back and Anakin really did burn to death?

_But what if I stay here and he turns to the dark side? What if the Sith will win the war?_

It wasn't as if she had the power to stop them. But Anakin did. That she knew.

"Ahsoka?" The Daughter's voice was calm again.

Ahsoka reached for the Force, trusting it to point her in the right direction. It surrounded her, giving her a peaceful feeling. Suddenly, she knew without a doubt what path was right. She could only hope it would help Anakin in the long run...

**Please reveiw! If the ROTS scene isn't exactly how it is in the movie, blame it on the fact that I've only seen ROTS once, and that was a while ago. I have the novelization, and I went by that.**

**PS: I find the death threats Palpatine is receiving quite entertaining. Please, keep them going. ;)**


	17. Facing the Dark Side

**Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and won't be able to update for at least a week; knowing me, it'll probably take longer. However, I've provided you with a long chapter (3,000+ words) to make up for my absence so enjoy! Thanks for all the reveiws!**

Anakin halted, staring at Sidious. His lightsaber wavered as he tried to sense whether the Sith was lying. Surprisingly- he wasn't. Sincerity rang in every word. The power to stop people from dying... With power like that- he could end the _war! _He could end suffering across the galaxy. No one close to him would ever die again...

He sensed that Sidious was smiling, though he couldn't see his face under the hood. "Yes, Skywalker. It is possible. The dark side allows one not to only use the Force, but also to control it. It is a path to many powerful abilities."

"And a path to destruction," Anakin said bitterly, adjusting his grip on his lightsaber. The power to save people from dying wasn't worth turning to the dark side. His gaze slid over to where Ahsoka's body lay. _Is it really not worth it?_

"Now there you are wrong," Sidious said. "How is saving lives a path to destruction?"

Anakin couldn't answer him. He lowered his lightsaber a fraction of an inch. "Why are you telling me this now? Why not when my Padawan was still alive and there was a chance of saving her?"

"If you wanted her alive, then you shouldn't have killed her," Sidious said coldly.

Anakin's lightsaber hilt creaked under the pressure of his mechanical hand. He attempted to push his anger and grief away, but Sidious shook his head. "You need to use your anger. Don't fear it, use it! If you do, you will be invincible."

Anakin hesitated. "It isn't the Jedi way." The excuse fell from his mouth weakly, not convincing the Sith.

Sidious gestured to the small room that they were in. "This is where the Jedi way brought you, Skywalker. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the Jedi way is not the right way?"

It had, several times. But he wasn't about to let Sidious know that. However, the Sith Lord sensed his uneasiness. "To give into your anger is a good thing," he said. "The Jedi are holding you back. If you learn to _use _your anger, you will be nearly invincible."

Anakin felt himself weakening. He was right, wasn't he? Anakin had seen what he could do with his anger. And hadn't Sidious created a storm with his anger?

_I could end the war... I could save everyone... no one close to me would ever die again..._

"Is it possible to... bring someone back from the dead?" he asked.

Sidious appeared to be considering this. "With your power, I would say it is very likely."

It never occurred to Anakin that this Sith was a master manipulator. It never crossed his mind that he was telling him what he wanted to hear so he would join him. All he knew is that Sidious was telling him it was possible to bring Ahsoka back.

And he believed him.

_..._

"I'm going back."

Ahsoka saw the Daughter's look of relief as she spoke those words, but the Son looked furious.

"I'm warning you now, child," the Son said. "If you go back, the galaxy will suffer."

Ahsoka looked the evil being in the eye. "I can't let my Master turn to the dark side. Yes, he made a mistake. But, I owe him my life as well. He and your sister saved my life after _you_ killed me. I have to go back. I'm not about to let the Sith win the war."

"You are very wise, Ahsoka," the Daughter said. "Your courage is remarkable."

The Son simply scowled. "You will regret this," he told Ahsoka.

Ahsoka shook her head. "If you ever loved your father, you would understand why I'm going back."

"Love clouds your judgement."

Ahsoka turned away from the Son and faced the Daughter. "I'm ready to go back."

The Daughter nodded. "Very well." She waved a hand and Ahsoka felt her consciousness begin to fade.

"Wait!" she said suddenly. "What about Sidious? I'm not strong enough to kill him, and I'm not sure if my Master has joined him!"

"Use what training your Master and I have given you," the Daughter said. "Anakin will help you. May the Force be with you, Ahsoka," she added.

That was the last thing Ahsoka heard.

...

The Daughter exhaled as Ahsoka's spirit faded away.

"You knew she would go back," her brother remarked from beside her.

"I only hoped she would," the Daughter replied. "She can make her own decisions. But I hoped that her devotion to her Master would help her make her choice."

"Love is a weak emotion," the Son said rather bitterly. "Look what it will do to the Chosen One."

"You know what must happen in order for the Force to be balanced," the Daughter reminded him.

"Yes," the Son agreed. "But, if Skywalker had turned to the dark side now, that would not happen."

"Why are you so against the prophecy?" the Daughter asked her brother.

Her brother shook his head. "You lie more than the Chosen One. You should just tell the child the truth- that her Master will destroy the galaxy and she can't do anything to stop him, no matter what you've been telling her." A hint of anger crossed his face, then he disappeared.

The Daughter sighed. She knew what had to happen in order for the Force to be balanced, but she didn't like it. Her father had told her for as long as she could remember that it was the only way. He had never given her a reason to doubt him.

She would continue doing what was right. She always had.

...

Ahsoka's first conscious thought was that she couldn't breathe. Then air rushed into her lungs and she took a deep breath. She then became aware of a burning pain in her chest. She felt stronger though; perhaps she was healing already. She drew on the Force to help dull the pain and frowned. Something was wrong. The Force was darker than normal. She turned her head slightly, and what she saw made her sit bolt upright in shock.

Anakin was _talking_ to Sidious; his lightsaber was lowered and he appeared to be considering whatever Sidious had said.

"Become my apprentice, and I will teach you," Sidious said.

"M-Master." Her voice came out as a whisper, although she wanted to shout at him for even _thinking_ aboutSidious's offer. He didn't hear her. "_Master_!"

Anakin went completely still, as did Sidious. Ahsoka felt their shock vibrate through the Force, as Anakin slowly turned around. "Ahsoka..."

Ahsoka had to smile at Anakin's bewildered expression. "You know Master, I don't talk just to hear my own voice," she said as lightly as she could. "When I say 'don't turn to the dark side, I really do mean 'don't-"

She was cut off then by lack of air; Anakin had seized her so tightly that she couldn't breathe.

"You're alive," she heard him say, still in shock. "I don't believe this."

"Master-" she tried to say, her voice muffled into his shoulder, "that hurts..."

Anakin let go of her immediately. "Sorry," he whispered, guilt flashing in his eyes as he studied her wound.

"It wasn't your fault," she said. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Mine cost you your life- or could have. I don't get how you're here."

Ahsoka avoided his question. "You can't turn to the dark side. The dark isn't more powerful then the light, and I can prove it."

"Snips, I-"

Ahsoka shook her head and got to her feet. She passed Anakin and stared furiously at the Sith Lord, who had been watching in silent shock. She raised a hand and green lightning snaked toward Sidious. He deflected it, but she had expected that. He seemed to know that he wouldn't be able to salvage anything from this experience.

"You've failed, Sidious," she said. "You knew what my Master would do to me, but that didn't work, did it? I don't know what you've been telling him, but the dark side isn't stronger. Joining the dark side will only destroy you."

"Speaking from experience, Tano?" Sidious growled, sending a stream of Sith lightning at her. Ahsoka quickly threw up a Force shield to deflect it, but the powerful lightning overpowered her. She realized that because of her injury, she wasn't able to reach her full power. She fell to the ground, expecting to feel the agony of the Sith lightning, but it never came. She looked up to see Anakin standing over her, blocking Sidious's attack with his lightsaber. She rolled out of the way and stood up again. Sidious ceased his attack.

"I never should have believed you," Anakin said to the Sith. "Everything that has happened to Ahsoka is because of you. There isn't a way to stop people from dying. If there was, the Jedi would have known about it."

"You are quite naive, Skywalker," Sidious said coldly. "The dark side offers you power the Jedi only dream of. The Jedi would not know of such things."

Ahsoka blinked at Anakin. He would have joined the dark side because a Sith Lord offered him the power to keep people from dying?

_Sidious is brilliant, _she thought grudgingly. _Crazy and evil, but brilliant._

"No they don't," she said, drawing on the light side and preparing to do something she had never done before. "But the Sith did not know of this!"

Ahsoka focused on the light side, nearly loosing herself in the Force as she often did during meditation. But this was not meditation.

This was the light side formed into a weapon.

Ahsoka sensed Sidious's mild surprise as the Force began to form a glowing white barrier around him. It was solid, but she sensed him using the dark side to break down the barrier.

"Master... help me!"

Anakin hesitated, but then he joined her in creating the Wall of Light. "I hope you know that I have no idea what I'm doing!"

It grew stronger with his added power, swirling around Sidious. The force of the glowing prison nearly threw Ahsoka back. It was taking her a large effort to even stay on her feet. She sensed the Sith's growing astonishment, then anger as he realized he couldn't escape from his new prison.

But something was still wrong. The Wall of Light wasn't strong enough to sever Sidious's Force connection. The second it was stopped, Sidious would be free again. Ahsoka knew that this had never been attempted with only two Jedi, but the Daughter had assured her it was possible.

_However, she told me that when Anakin and I still had our bond._

She realized now that they were fighting together again that the missing bond made a huge difference. Before their bond had been broken, they would draw off the other's Force power and the power that ran through their bond. It made them both stronger, and they fought better. But now, they were simply fighting side by side, two Jedi vs. a Sith. They could still fight well, but in a battle like this, 'well' wasn't good enough.

An idea entered her mind. She had seen a Master attempt to do it with an injured Padawan. If she and Anakin could link their minds, they could possibly generate enough Force power to defeat Sidious. That Master and Padawan together had been able to heal that wound. Perhaps Anakin and Ahsoka would be able to do the impossible and mend their bond.

_Don't get your hopes up. A lot has happened. Maybe you both are too weak to do this._

Ahsoka pushed those thoughts aside. She reached out to Anakin through the Force and felt his surprise as she nudged his mind.

_Please, Master, _she pleaded silently, _I need you to trust me just this once._

For a second that stretched into an eternity, Anakin hesitated. Then he dropped his mental shields and allowed her access to his mind.

Ahsoka allowed herself a small smile at the realization that although the bond was gone, the trust was not. She dropped her own mental shields and allowed Anakin's Force power to flood hers. She noticed the difference immediately. Not only did she feel stronger, but the Wall of Light was growing more powerful. Instead of white, it was now a brilliant blue. Ahsoka feared that the room would collapse from all the pressure. The power just kept on building... and building...

Suddenly she gasped in surprise. The underground cavern was fading, as was Sidious, Anakin and everything else in the room. There was a sharp pain in her head, then a new, faint landscape appeared. A sandy-haired boy of around eight years old sat in a junk shop staring at a young girl who appeared to be around 14.

"You're a _slave?_" the girl asked in shock. The boy glared at her and lifted his chin.

"I'm a _person," _he said. "My name is Anakin."

Ahsoka stared. _Is this a vision? Or... _

It suddenly hit her. She had dived too deep into her Master's mind, and these were his memories. She looked around wildly for a way out. Anakin had never told her about his past and she had respected his decision.

Scenes switched in rapid succession. The next clear one Ahsoka could see was an older Anakin leaving a tent in a large camp. His expression was furious as he ignited his lightsaber and struck down the two hooded figures outside of the tent. More of the hooded figures came running toward him, but he killed them as well. Ahsoka watched in horror as this Anakin killed and killed again. Were these the Tusken Raiders that Anakin had killed after someone close to him had died?

Ahsoka thought nothing could surprise her after what she had seen, but then the scene switched and her mouth dropped open at what was in front of her.

_What?_

Before she could dwell on what she had seen, the image dissolved and she found herself on Christophsis again. She found that perhaps only a second had passed in the time that she had discovered some of Anakin's deepest secrets.

And judging by the way her Master was looking at her, he had learned some of hers as well.

Ahsoka felt a wave of pain from Sidious as his Force connection was severed. She felt no pity for him. _Now you know how it feels to have something like that ripped away from you, _she thought bitterly.

Suddenly, Ahsoka saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Jinx was coming around, as was Bane.

"Jinx!" she yelled. Once she saw she had the Padawan's attention, she used the Force to pull her lightsabers off of Bane's belt and sent them flying to Jinx. Hopefully he could use them to sever his bindings.

"Tell me," Anakin said, his eyes still on the prison they had created, "when did you get so good at multitasking?"

Ahsoka shrugged. She was about to answer when she heard a large rumble. She looked up and saw the ceiling shaking. The power of the Wall of Light had weakened the structure, and now it was caving in.

_Why does every building I enter end up falling down?_

At last, Ahsoka released her grip on the Force and the Wall of Light faded away. Sidious stood up and drew his lightsaber, but at that moment, the rumbling increased and the smooth green stone that made up the ceiling cracked. Ahsoka crossed the room where Jinx was struggling to pull the bindings off. She picked up her lightsabers and sliced through the bonds. "I'm so sorry about your Master," she said as he pulled the gag off and coughed.

"Thank you," he said solemnly, and Ahsoka could tell he was trying not to look at his Master's body. He made an attempt to smile. "So, what happened after you knocked me out? Does Master Skywalker still believe you killed my Master? And what _happened_ to you?" he added, staring in shock at her lightsaber wound.

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ fault you got knocked out," Ahsoka protested. She had nearly forgotten about her wound. It still hurt, but she had forgotten it in her haste to capture Sidious. "Do you think I chose to be pushed across the room?"

"Hello, Master Skywalker," Jinx said, ignoring her.

"Are you OK?" Anakin asked him as he joined the two Padawans. Jinx nodded.

"Although the next time you decide to throw a girl at me, please warn me first," he said dryly. Ahsoka resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The months that Jinx had been trapped on Wasskah had given him a witty sense of humour and he used it on elders without thinking. It landed him in a lot of trouble with the other Masters, but Anakin didn't seem to mind. He simply winced.

"Sorry."

Suddenly, a hexagonal plate that had been part of the ceiling fell down beside Anakin and they were all reminded of the seriousness of the situation.

"Master, look!"

Anakin whirled around to see Bane and Sidious exiting the room. He sprinted after them but by the time he entered the hall outside the room, the door to the lift tube down the hall was already closing.

Ahsoka could feel Anakin's deep anger at allowing the Sith Lord to get away, but said nothing. She knew that anger would cloud her mind, and if they could get to the surface of Christophsis, they still had a chance at capturing Sidious.

"Great," Jinx sighed. "Anyone notice another lift tube on the way here?"

"There should be ventilation shafts in here somewhere," Anakin said thoughtfully. "They would need them to bring air down to the organic beings that worked down here. There isn't just one way out of this base."

Ahsoka ran farther down the corridor until she came to a large open space. It was filled with machinery of sorts and deactivated droids and, just as Anakin said, there were pipes lining the wall on the far end of the room that she recognized as ventilation shafts.

Behind them, the roar of destruction from the cave-in grew louder. Ahsoka didn't look behind her as she began to make her way through the maze of machinery. She ignited her lightsaber, cut a hole in the grating that covered one of the pipes and climbed inside, Jinx and Anakin right behind her.

The shaft went straight up for several hundred feet, and it was quite wide. Ahsoka used the Force to help her wall-jump up the shaft. The tiny pinnacle of light at the top grew larger and the noise below grew fainter. At last her exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her and she almost fell down the shaft.

"You hanging in there, Snips?" came Anakin's voice from somewhere below her.

"I'm fine, Master," she replied, though she knew she didn't sound fine.

Finally, she climbed out of the pipe and looked around with a sigh of relief. Jinx and Anakin climbed out after her.

For a moment, they were all silent. Anakin and Ahsoka shared a glance, and Ahsoka knew they were going to have to talk, but this was not the time or place.

Anakin rested a hand on Ahsoka's uninjured shoulder. "Come on," he said quietly. "This isn't over yet."

**She's alive! You all can breath again... kind of. Their troubles aren't over yet! What do you think Ahsoka saw in Anakin's memories that shocked her so much? (Virtual cookie if you can guess.)**

**Please reveiw!**


	18. No More Lies

**I'm sorry. Guilt has been nagging at me for a long time, and after a wake up call from xander867 (thanks, by the way) I finally got this done. Thank you everyone for all the reveiws. 23 for the last chapter! Every single reveiw makes my day. :D **

**This chapter is dedicated to WolvieGrrl, for her hilarious reveiw that just about made me fall off my chair laughing. I hope you've recovered! ;) **

* * *

><p>Sidious walked briskly across the turquoise landscape of Christophsis, thinking about what had transpired in the mine.<p>

The girl had come back to life. Sidious' scowl deepened. How was it possible that Tano kept avoiding death? He had seen Skywalker kill her with his own eyes.

_How does one fight an enemy that doesn't die?_

However, he had bigger problems than that. His Force connection had been severed by that trap of the light side. He knew very little about the power that had been used against him, but he did know that Skywalker had no knowledge of the Wall of Light at all. Hopefully, his lack of knowledge could work to Sidious's advantage, he hadn't known what the light side prison was capable of. It was possible that the Wall had been weak enough that he could regain his Force connection.

He did have one last card to play against Tano and Skywalker, though. He turned to Bane, who was walking silently beside him. "I have another mission for you, bounty hunter."

Bane nodded, but his eyes remained on his ship, which was less than half a kilometre away.

"I want you to bring the recording of Skywalker and Tano's duel on Coruscant to the Jedi Council. I don't care how you do it, but make sure it gets there. If you succeed, you will receive 200,000 more credits than your original pay."

Bane's expression was unreadable as he thought about Sidious's offer. Finally he said, "I'm getting a little tired of this job, but not that tired. Give me the recording."

Sidious handed the recording to the bounty hunter and watched as he climbed into his ship. He strode up the ramp to his own ship, where the two commando droids were disguised as the Chancellor's Red Guards. They would fly the ship back to Coruscant, and he would once again fall into the role of the mild-mannered Chancellor of the Republic. Ahsoka Tano would be expelled from the Order, no longer a threat to him.

No one would have a reason to suspect him.

* * *

><p>They could hear the battle before they could see it.<p>

Anakin could hear the sounds of blaster fire and explosions as they entered the city and frowned as he saw the smoke rising from the crystalline towers. He knew there was no chance of finding Sidious, the Sith was probably off-planet by now, but there was still a battle to win.

"Here," Ahsoka said, handing Jinx her shoto lightsaber. She activated her remaining blade.

"What are you doing?" Anakin glanced suspiciously at her. "There is no way you two are joining the battle. I want you to get on the first gunship you can find and go up to the ship to get medical attention."

"Master, I'm perfectly fine," Ahsoka insisted. "It doesn't even really hurt anymore."

"It doesn't matter," Anakin said. "I'm not letting you join that battle."

_Especially__ after wha__t happened, _he added silently.

Ahsoka seemed to hesitate, but she sighed and nodded. "Fine. But if you haven't won the battle in six hours, I'm coming back down to help you."

"I'm insulted that you think so little of my fighting skills," Anakin said lightly. "I'll join you on the ship in four hours."

"Believe me, your fighting skills are fine," Ahsoka said, wincing slightly as she rubbed her shoulder. "But, that sounds like a _lot _of droids."

"Speaking of droids..." Jinx trailed off as a squad of battle droids marched around the corner.

"Surrender, Jedi!" the commander screeched.

"Run!" Anakin shouted to the Padawans. "I'll hold them off!" He leaped forward, lightsaber drawn before the droids had even started shooting. Ahsoka and Jinx raced in the opposite direction. It was only a small squad of droids, but this wasn't the real battle. He had to find Rex.

"Rex!" he shouted into his comlink. "Where are you?"

"We're defending the base," the Captain replied. "Did you find Commander Tano?"

"Yeah," Anakin said, slicing two droids in half with one sweep of his weapon, "but she needs medical attention. I sent her and another Padawan back to the ship."

"Sir, what-"

"I'll explain later, Rex," Anakin said, Force-pushing a droid into a wall. "Let's finish up with these droids. Have you captured the separatist general?"

"No, sir," Rex replied. "We don't know where the droids have set up a base, or even _if_ they've set up a base."

This further cemented Anakin's belief that the separatist attack had simply been a cover story. There didn't appear to be any attempt to take over the whole planet, and there had been no attacks on the communications centre or other buildings of importance. The droids just seemed to be there as a distraction.

Anakin ended the transmission and made his way through the streets of Crystal City to the republic base. The roar of blasterfire echoed in his ears as he raced into battle. He allowed himself to relax a little; fighting like this meant he could forget, even if it was only for a while, what he had done to Ahsoka in the mine.

* * *

><p>Ahsoka found it quite easy to borrow a gunship. She and Jinx avoided the battle and stayed in the shadows of the streets. They found a gunship near the republic base and the clone pilot agreed to fly them to the Jedi Cruiser<em>. <em>She kept her lekku tilted at an angle so they would cover the worst of her wound, but the pilot had no doubt noticed.

"That Sith is vicious," Jinx commented. "I must have been out of it for a while if he managed to beat you in a lightsaber duel."

"Right," Ahsoka said stiffly. How was she going to explain that it wasn't the Sith Lord who had caused her injury, but her own Master?

_Will Anakin even want to take me back? And even if he does, what if I'm going to be expelled from the Order?_

She had known the consequences of returning to the living. Now she would own up to them.

Jinx and Ahsoka thanked the pilot and exited the gunship. Jinx looked around the hangar of the large ship with fascination, and Ahsoka remembered that he had probably only been on a Jedi Cruiser once or twice.

"Do you want to stay here?" she asked him with a grin.

Jinx snapped his head up, startled. "What? No... I'll come with you."

Another thing she admired about Jinx: his sense of loyalty. Ahsoka led the Twi'lek Padawan through the maze of halls on the shipand down to the med bay. The surgical droid, 2-1B, looked up and as soon as he caught sight of Ahsoka, he moved stiffly toward her.

"Commander! What has happened to you?"

"Lightsaber wound," Ahsoka said. She never would have admitted it to her Master, but she was feeling quite weak. Perhaps it had been for the best that she had left the battle. She lay down on a cot as the droid examined her wound. Another droid led Jinx away. The droid emitted a whirr of surprise and Ahsoka cast him a startled look. "What is it?"

"Your wound is very deep, Commander," 2-1B said. "It is a miracle you are even walking, much less alive."

An unexpected shiver ran through Ahsoka as she remembered the feeling of her life draining away in the mine. She now knew what Anakin was capable of doing.

And it scared her.

* * *

><p>Anakin drove his lightsaber through a droid and walked up the stairs of the separatist base. He could sense a life-form in the old headquarters and knew it was the separatist general. He entered the main chamber and saw a rail-thin Neimoidian staring out the window at the battle.<p>

_Coward, _Anakin thought. The Neimoidians were a skittish race, and it didn't surprise him that this one had stayed out of the battle.

The general didn't even look away from the window as he snapped, "Report."

Anakin played along. "Your army has nearly been destroyed. Call off the remaining droids and come with me."

The Neimoidian turned and paled when he saw Anakin. "Blast him!" he yelled to his droid bodyguards, but Anakin blocked the shots, then Force-pushed the four battle droids into the wall. He then pointed his lightsaber at the separatist.

"Surrender," he said sharply. The Neimoidian slowly raised his hands. "Call off the remaining droids," Anakin ordered, and the general complied. Anakin brought the separatist leader to the republic base into a waiting cell.

"What are your orders, General Skywalker?" Rex asked as the other troops began to clean up the area.

At that point, Anakin couldn't have cared less about what happened on Christophsis. He wanted to know how Ahsoka was doing.

"Finish up here, then come up to the ship," he said. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," Rex said. Anakin paused for a second to make sure the clone Captain had everything under control, then left the base and headed back to the mine entrance where he had landed his starfighter. He checked the chrono as the starfighter lifted into the atmosphere and noted that the battle had been won in a little over four hours.

A small satisfaction in the overall disappointment that had been his day.

He leaped out of his starfighter almost the second it touched down on the hanger floor and walked quickly down the corridor to the med bay.

"Are you injured, sir?" the medical droid asked him.

"No, I'm fine. Where is my Padawan?"

2-1B gave a bewildered whirr. "It is quite amazing that the girl is alive, sir. Her wound was quite deep. It should have killed her, but she still lives."

"Can I see her?" Anakin was shaken by the report. How was Ahsoka still alive with an injury like that?

"This way."

Anakin followed the droid to a small room with two cots. One of them was empty, but he he recognized the small form of his Padawan in the far bed. She was sleeping, and although the blanket was pulled up to her neck, he could see a white bandage on her right shoulder.

Anakin looked out the window toward the turquoise planet below. He used to smile whenever he thought of Christophsis, the planet where he had met his Padawan. What had happened in the mine had changed his thinking.

He was never going back there again.

* * *

><p>Ahsoka awoke, but she didn't stir. She opened her eyes to see her Master standing by the window, staring expressionlessly out into space. She sensed the guilt he was feeling, and the enormity of his emotions shocked her.<p>

Anakin turned to see her awake, and relief crossed his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad," Ahsoka said. She felt worse than she had a few hours ago, but decided Anakin had enough to worry about.

"Nice try, Ahsoka, he said, "but I've known you long enough to know when you're lying."

_You can't tell when I'm telling truth, either, _Ahsoka thought, but remained silent. Anakin started to speak again, but Ahsoka cut him off before he could say anything.

"I know you're probably furious that I lied to you and went off with that Sith and Bane, but he said it was either me or you and that he would kill Jinx if I didn't go with him. I didn't break our bond, I tried my hardest to block Sidious's access to my mind. I-"

Ahsoka fell silent as Anakin raised a hand.

"I'm not mad at you, Snips," he said. "I'm proud of you."

Ahsoka blinked. "You're... _proud _of me?"

Anakin nodded. "You lived with a Sith Lord for nearly three days and managed stop him from killing Jinx. I know you tried to save the bond. If anything, you should be mad at _me, _for refusing to listen to you.

Ahsoka thought for a moment. "I was upset," she admitted. "But I had also been overconfident. I believed that I could save Jinx and his Master, convince you that I hadn't turned to the dark side, and help you kill Sidious. I underestimated him. He knew exactly what to do to get you to see his side."

"It probably didn't help that I didn't listen to anything you tried to tell me," Anakin said, rather bitterly.

"Why didn't you listen to me, Master?" Ahsoka asked. "I thought you knew me better than that. I would never turn to the dark side willingly."

Anakin sighed. "The Council is convinced that you turned to the dark side, and after the bond broke, I let myself be convinced as well. When I saw that Master Oki was dead, I automatically assumed that you had killed him."

"That's exactly what he wanted you to think," Ahsoka concluded. "I tried to free Jinx so Sidious wouldn't have any more power over me, but you stopped me. I tried to disarm you so I could free him, but you obviously got the impression I was trying to kill him."

Anakin sat down on her bed. A shadow had crossed him face. "Patience has never been one of my strengths," he remarked. "I never gave you a chance to explain anything. I jumped to conclusions."

While she was glad that they were able to talk about this, Ahsoka knew they were avoiding what needed to get out in the open. She summoned her nerve.

"Who died on Tatooine?"

Anakin's face took on the blank expression Ahsoka was used to seeing whenever she asked him a personal question. He shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Ahsoka frowned. She knew Anakin wasn't going to like what she had to say, but she needed to know. "I want to know who was important enough to you that you got that angry when that Sith mentioned what happened."

Anakin hesitated. "They killed my mother, Snips. They tortured her for a month. I had terrible dreams about her while she was in captivity, but I never went after her. Obi-Wan told me that they were just dreams, and that they would pass in time. They didn't, they only got worse. I decided to go to Tatooine to check on her, and found out that she had been missing for a month. By the time I found her, it was too late. She died soon after I found her in the Tusken camp."

Ahsoka thought she heard a hint of resentment in her Master's voice as he spoke about Obi-Wan but wasn't sure. Now she understood why Anakin had been so angry. She didn't remember much of her own mother, but Anakin had been with his mother until he was nine.

_As a slave? _Now she knew why her Master was so secretive about his past.

"I'm sorry Master," she said. "I had no idea."

Anakin looked her in the eye. "If the Jedi Council knew that I'd killed all those creatures,I'd be expelled from the Order."

Ahsoka made a decision. "I won't tell them," she said. "I'm going to be expelled, but I'm not dragging you down with me."

"Where did you get _that _idea?" Anakin asked, looking startled.

"If the Council believes I turned to the dark side, they aren't going to let me stay in the Order," Ahsoka reasoned.

"I'll explain to them what happened," Anakin said. "They are reasonable, Ahsoka. They will listen."

"Last time I tried 'explaining' something," Ahsoka said, her frustration getting the better of her, "I was killed by a lightsaber!"

A very long silence followed. Ahsoka slumped down onto her bed. _Why can't I keep my mouth __shut? He feels bad enough already._

"I can't take back what I did," Anakin said at last. "I acted in anger and I will regret doing that for the rest of my life." Ahsoka sensed his guilt more strongly then ever and wished she hadn't said anything.

"I'm alive," she said. "I'm fine, Master. What happened before won't affect me in battle. The droid said there will be no lasting damage."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," Anakin said. "Howexactly _are_ you alive? The droid told me that your injury should have been fatal."

"It's... complicated," Ahsoka said. She wasn't looking forward to telling Anakin about the secrets she had been keeping. "I've been receiving training from the very person that gave me my power," she said and watched as confusion crossed her Master's face.

"The Daughter? Snips, she's dead!"

"I know. She enters my dreams and trains me that way. That's where I learned about the Wall of Light and the green lightning. I couldn't tell you... she thought it would be better that way."

Anakin looked shocked. "Why was she training you, Ahsoka? And why couldn't you tell me?"

Ahsoka stared at the ground. Anakin would be furious with the Daughter if he knew the real reason for training her. "She knew the Sith were after me and wanted to help me train," she said. "She made me swear not to tell you."

"And for once, you followed orders?"

"Very funny," Ahsoka said. "When I was on Korriban, she taught me how to strengthen my mental shields." She decided that for now, she would leave out the visions of Vader. "And then, on Christophsis, she offered me the chance to come back to the living."

She hoped that her Master wouldn't ask about her experience with the Daughter and Son, but he narrowed his eyes. "You say that like you considered not coming back."

_No more lies, _Ahsoka told herself. "I did consider that," she admitted. "But it wasn't because of what you did," she said as his expression grew alarmed. "The Son came with his sister. He told me if I went back, you would suffer for it. To prove his point he showed me a vision of a... fight."

"Go on," Anakin said quietly.

"You were fighting what looked like a Jedi by a river of lava," Ahsoka said, trying to remember. "The other Jedi cut off your left arm and legs at the knee. You fell too close to the lava and your clothes caught fire." She shivered, remembering the pain she had seen him in.

Anakin frowned. "Snips, I'm not going to die in a lava river," he said, resting a hand on Ahsoka's uninjured shoulder. Her Master was a very reserved man; Ahsoka knew that opening himself up like this was a big deal for him. "The Son was a deceitful being. You shouldn't trust anything he said."

Ahsoka nodded. "I guess not. But it looked so real!"

"You came back even though the Son threatened you like that? Why?"

Ahsoka chose her words carefully. "I knew that Sidious had wanted to turn you to the dark side. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to help you."

"The way things turned out, it was _me _helping_ you," _Anakin said with a small smile. "I guess I should thank the Daughter for teaching you about the Wall of Light." His smile disappeared. "Sidious got away, though."

"But he has no Force power," Ahsoka said. "He isn't a threat anymore."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you underestimated him enough? This is a Sith Lord you're talking about. If there is a way to regain his Force connection, he will find it."

"What about our bond?" Ahsoka asked quietly. "Is there a way to restore that?"

"I'm not sure," Anakin said. "What about that trick you tried in the mine?"

Ahsoka had thought about that. She was hesitant to try it again. Invading her Master's mind was not something she wanted to do a second time.

"I need to know what you saw, Snips," Anakin said, leaning forward. "I ended up too deep in your mind as well. I saw your... experience with the Trandoshan hunters, and a certain meeting with a separatist boy that I would like to know more of."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Her Master never changed.

"What did you see?" Anakin asked again.

Ahsoka sighed. "I saw you when you were younger. You were talking to a girl, and got angry when she called you a... slave. Then I saw you killing all the sand people." She stopped there, not wanting to tell him the last thing she had seen. _He'll get expelled... I don't want to be responsible for that..._

Anakin's expression didn't change, but she felt his tormented Force-presence. "Is that all?"

Ahsoka frowned, and Anakin noticed her hesitation. "What else did you see, Ahsoka?"

Resentment at all the secrets her Master had been keeping tore the words out of her mouth.

"How long have you been married to Senator Amidala?"

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><p><strong>Anakin's in trouble, and Sidious has something up his sleeve. Not good! Everyone who said Ahsoka saw Anakin and Padme's wedding was correct and gets a cookie... but more on that next chapter.<strong>

**Please reveiw! :D**


	19. Busted

**I'm back! Thanks to everyone who reveiwed. This story is almost over, there will be one more chapter after this, then an epilogue. Here's chapter 19!**

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><p>For a moment, shock rendered Anakin speechless.<p>

_There goes my life._

Would Ahsoka go to the Council if he told her the truth? She had said she wouldn't tell them about the Tusken Raiders, and he was grateful, but marriage to a Senator was a different story.

Finally, he decided to see how much she actually knew. "What gave you the idea that we're married, Snips? Last time I checked, that was against the code."

"You never did pay much attention to the code," Ahsoka said. Anakin couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Also, why did you invite Threepio and Artoo to your wedding, but no one else?"

Anakin sighed. She knew enough that he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out. "Alright. We've been married since just after the first battle of Geonosis."

Ahsoka's expression didn't change. She just nodded.

Anakin was growing uneasy. "Are you... okay, Ahsoka?"

"I'm fine, Master," she said flatly. "But if there's one thing I've learned on this mission, it's that I don't know you as well as I thought I did. Does anyone _really_ know you?"

Anakin looked down. He had killed his Padawan, but she wasn't mad at him for that. She was mad at him for keeping secrets. _It was a rather large secret, but still._

"I wish I knew what to tell you," he said at last. "Inever wanted you to find out like this."

"Were you ever going to tell me, Master? Or would you have just kept this a secret forever?"

Anakin frowned. How was he going to answer that? "I... don't know. I wasn't sure if you would go to the Council if you knew." There was a question in that statement- would she _really_ go the Council?

Ahsoka looked away. "Maybe if the circumstances were different, if you had actually told me before, I might have kept your secret. But now... I'm not sure what to do."

Anakin exhaled. He had been afraid of that.

"Although, now that I know you're married, I can't believe I didn't figure it out earlier," his Padawan remarked.

Anakin glanced sharply at her. "What do you mean?"

Ahsoka smiled for the first time. "You two aren't exactly great at hiding your feelings. I've always suspected that you were more than just friends, but I had no clue you were married."

Anakin shook his head. "Wonderful. I wonder how many other people 'suspect we aren't just friends'."

Ahsoka shrugged. "I spend a lot of time around you. I know you better than most people." She paused and mumbled, "Or I thought I did." He remained silent. "I don't think anyone else suspects anything." She took a deep breath, and when she looked up at Anakin again, her eyes were clear and he sensed her anger had dimmed. "I would like to know why you got married, though."

Anakin thought about how to explain that. She had been raised in the Temple from a very young age, and unlike him, she had no experience with romantic love. It would be difficult for her to understand why they had done the unthinkable.

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><p>Ahsoka's head was still spinning, but she could actually grasp the fact that her Master was married now. Despite the fact the the Jedi in her was screaming for her to tell the Council, she was going to hear him out before she made any decisions.<p>

"I've loved her since I was nine years old," Anakin began. "But it wasn't until ten years later that she began to return the feeling. She told me one night that it wouldn't work, because of our positions. Jedi aren't supposed to marry and as a Senator, she was expected to marry someone higher up in rank."

"Why didn't you listen to her?" Ahsoka asked. Obviously the situation had not remained that way.

"Because I'm stubborn, impulsive and I don't give up easily," Anakin said with a grin. "It was around that time that I was having dreams about my mother. She went to Tatooine with me to check on her. Padme is one of the only people who knows what I did to the Tuskens."

"Go on," Ahsoka said when Anakin remained silent.

"Obi-Wan was captured by Dooku and we went to Geonosis to rescue him." Anakin grimaced. "_That _didn't go very well. We were captured within fifteen minutes of setting foot on Geonosis and set to be executed. You pretty much know the rest; the Clone Army arrived and I fought Dooku. What no one knows is that when I went with Padme back to Naboo, we were married. By that time, she had stopped telling me it was impossible for us to love each other. I know it may be hard for you to understand, but I really do love her."

Ahsoka thought that over. Anakin had risked being expelled from the Order to marry Padme. The Senator was a close friend of Ahsoka's as well; could she really expose them both to the galaxy, knowing the scandal they would face?

"I... still don't know what to do," she admitted. "Can you give me time to think it over?"

"Of course," Anakin said. "I wouldn't expect you to make a decision right away."

"I _am _happy for you, Master," Ahsoka added quickly. "It's just... I'm not sure what I should do."

"I understand," Anakin said. He stood up. "You should get some rest. I'm going to see if Rex is on board yet."

Ahsoka nodded. She wasn't sure she would sleep though, she had too much on her mind. Jedi weren't supposed to let emotions get in the way of their decisions, but this whole situation was pure emotion. As much as the Jedi weren't supposed to form attachments, her Master was her best friend. How could she betray him?

_But if I don't, will I be betraying the Jedi?_

Ahsoka closed her eyes and tried to push the situation out of her head so she could get some more sleep.

* * *

><p>Sidious scowled as the ship neared Coruscant. He had hoped his Force connection would return by itself, but he had been in hyperspace for quite a while and that still had not happened. He only hoped there were no Jedi to welcome him when he arrived at the Senate; they would feel the difference in him immediately.<p>

He assumed the friendly and harmless face and personality of Chancellor Palpatine once again and prepared to meet the Senators who had gathered like flocks of hawk-bats to welcome him back.

Sidious's frustration mounted as he shook hands again and again and listened to the snivelling Senators babble on about how glad they were that he had returned to the capital. At last, the crowd thinned enough that he could continue on to his office. He ordered his secretary not to let anyone in, then strode across the room to where he kept his Sith holocron. Even without the Force, he could still feel the darkness that hung around it. The Jedi were so blind that they could not sense Sith artifacts right under their noses.

This particular holocron was unusual, as it couldn't be accessed through the Force. Sidious had created it to open only for him. That way, if the Jedi, or anyone else discovered it, they wouldn't be able to open it.

While Sidious hoped to use the darkness of the holocron to return his Force connection, there was still a risk in what he was about to do. The Jedi would undoubtedly sense the darkness radiating from the holocron, but hopefully they would not be able to sense where on Coruscant it was coming from. The Sith Lord didn't like taking risks, but he had no choice. Carefully, he accessed the holocron.

Images of war and death leaped out at him. He could feel suffering, but it was hazy, as if he was submerged in water. Teachings of the Sith surfaced and as the holocron burned in his hands, the air around him grew thick with darkness. Something flashed in him, and he realized it was hate. Someone close by was angry... but then the hate disappeared, and he could feel nothing again. Nonetheless, Sidious knew it was working. The Force would return to him.

_Pathetic little Padawan, _he thought. _Your prison was no match for the dark side._

Suddenly, he felt a rush of emotions that were not his own. The Force flooded him like an incoming tide, and for a single moment, he could feel _everything_. Everyone and everything around him became crystal clear.

As the wave of emotions receded, Sidious smiled. He returned the holocron to it's hiding place and sat down. Skywalker's failure to turn was only a minor setback. He would have other, better opportunities to make the young Jedi his apprentice. He thought of the Padawan that had caused him so much trouble. If all went according to plan, she would not serve Skywalker much longer...

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><p>Ahsoka left the med bay a few hours later feeling much better physically, but mentally, she was at war with herself. She almost wished she had never found out about her Master's marriage; she would never have had to make such an agonizing decision if she hadn't.<p>

Anakin hadn't come to see her again, and she was glad. It just would have made her decision that much harder. She didn't really want to run into him, so she avoided the bridge and war room, and headed down to the hangar. There would be less of a chance of meeting him there.

Anakin wasn't in the hanger, but Ahsoka spotted Jinx helping the clones move some boxes. He looked up as Ahsoka approached and nodded in greeting.

"I'm surprised you're out of the med bay already," he commented. Without thinking, Ahsoka ran her hand over the angry red line on her shoulder. The droid had wanted to keep the bandage on longer, but Ahsoka had refused. The bandage would attract more attention then the injury itself, and she didn't want to have to explain over and over again what had happened to her.

"I'm fine," she said cheerfully. "Ninety-nine percent better."

Jinx looked at her skeptically, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Captain Rex.

"It's good to see you, Commander. There have been some pretty crazy rumours flying around lately."

That explained the looks exchanged by the troopers as Ahsoka had walked through the corridors. "I'm still me, Rex, no matter what you might have heard."

Rex nodded. "Not everyone knows that, though. You might want to be careful. There's talk that you've joined the separatists."

The notion was so ridiculous that Ahsoka nearly rolled her eyes. If she had truly joined the separatists, would she have been walking unguarded through the ship? But she thanked Rex for warning her and left him to his work. She had only gone a few steps before Jinx appeared beside her.

"Was what he said true?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "Do I _look _like I'm working for the separatists?"

"I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the fact that the Sith Lord mentioned several times that you had turned to the dark side once before. Is that true?"

Ahsoka paused. "Er... kind of. I was under a spell of the dark side, meaning I had no control over my actions."

Jinx was silent as he took in this information. "What about your magnified Force power? Where did that come from?"

"Long story short, someone incredibly powerful gave me her life force on a mission," Ahsoka said. She didn't want to give him too much information. Quickly, she changed the subject. "How did Bane capture you? You spent months evading those Trandoshans- I know you aren't easy to catch."

Jinx shrugged. "I let down my guard. He boarded our ship and knocked me out with once of those electric stun nets. He was just a bounty hunter. I thought I could take him."

"Overconfidence," Ahsoka said. She had fallen prey to it several times over the past few days.

The Twi'lek nodded. He looked over to where the clones were making repairs on the Y-wings and Ahsoka sensed he was itching to go help. "Go ahead," she told him with a smile.

As she watched Jinx cross the hangar, she felt a familiar presence behind her and her good mood faded.

"We'll be coming out of hyperspace soon," Anakin said by a way of greeting. "What are you doing out of the medical bay?"

"The droid let me go," Ahsoka said, irritated. By his accusing tone, it sounded like he thought she had sneaked out. "I'll see the healers in the Temple when we get back if you need proof that I'm better."

"Will you be okay with going to the Temple by yourself?" Anakin asked. "There's something I have to take care of."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at him. She had come to recognize the vague tone her Master used when he had something to hide. Then she saw the nearly hidden eagerness in his eyes, and something clicked in her mind. "Can I come with you to see Senator Amidala?"

Anakin froze beside her. "Uh... if you want to. Have you made a decision?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "I just want to be there when you tell her what happened."

"All right," Anakin said. "Are you sure you're up to visiting Padme?"

"No, I'm going to go sit in the healers wing for a few hours," Ahsoka said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm _fine._"

Anakin sighed.

* * *

><p>Mace Windu looked at the recording in his hand as the Padawan who had delivered it disappeared out the door of the Council Chambers. The message had come anonymously, but it had been marked as urgent. He placed it on the hologram stand and activated it.<p>

A startled murmur rippled through the Council as an image of Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan. They were obviously engaged in a Force duel of some sorts. Skywalker gained the upper hand very quickly, but there was a wave of shock in the Force as Ahsoka Tano poured Force-lightning into her Master.

Windu turned off the recording and returned to his seat, thinking hard about what they had just seen. Tano had recently turned to the dark side, but this had obviously been recorded before her fall. Or had it? How long had the Padawan been deceiving the Order?

"We need to talk to Anakin," Adi Gallia said finally.

"Returned to Coruscant, he has," Yoda said. "Brought his Padawan with him, he has. Hear both sides of the story, we will."

Mace frowned. "He has been training Padawan Tano against our wishes. But where does she stand in this? She has turned to the dark side, has she not?"

"Jump to conclusions, we will not," Yoda said evenly. "Meet with young Skywalker and his Padawan, we will."

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><p>For the first time in his married life, Anakin was nervous about visiting his wife.<p>

Ahsoka was silent as she followed him to the door to Padme's apartment. Anakin was partly glad that she hadn't made her decision yet. He wanted Padme to know what was going on before anything happened.

Threepio opened the door for them. "Hello, Master Anakin! It is so very good to-"

"Is Padme here?" Anakin interrupted. He wasn't in the mood for Threepio's endless chatter.

"Yes, she is in the living area," Threepio began, but Anakin simply pushed past him, feeling Ahsoka's exasperation clearly. If they had still had their bond and could talk silently to each other, she would be making fun of him right about now.

Padme was reading a datapad with her back to them. She turned around as Anakin and Ahsoka entered the room. "Anakin, Ahsoka, it's so good to see you both!" Her expression turned to one of horror as her eyes fell on Ahsoka's injury. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Anakin said before Ahsoka could open her mouth. "But we have some... news."

Padme looked up at him, concern washing over her features. "Is something wrong?"

"She knows, Padme," Anakin said simply, deciding to cut straight to the chase. "She knows everything."

Padme caught on immediately, and her hand flew to her mouth. Anakin looked at his Padawan, who seemed a little uncomfortable.

_Maybe it was a mistake to bring her along._

"Did you tell her?" Padme asked him. She seemed to have gotten over her initial shock.

Anakin shook his head. "No... it's more complicated then that. You may want to sit down."

Anakin and Ahsoka quickly explained to Padme what had been happening over the past couple of days. Anakin had told Padme of Ahsoka's Force power weeks ago, and Anakin could tell his Padawan was surprised to hear that. When they finished their narrative, Padme leaned back on the couch, looking thoughtful.

"What does the Council think of this?" she asked.

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged a look. "Well... they don't exactly know what's going on," Ahsoka admitted. "Master Skywalker contacted them just before we came out of hyperspace, but he only gave them a few details."

"Ahsoka... have you told them anything?"

The Padawan shook her head. "No. But I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't want to tell the Council, but if I don't, I'll be betraying the Order as well- and I'm tired of lies."

Anakin hated how uncertain Ahsoka sounded. "We'll respect any decision you make, Snips."

Padme nodded. "The Council is fair. If you do decide to tell them, they may let Anakin stay in the Order."

Ahsoka stood up suddenly. "Can you excuse me for a few minutes?" When Anakin nodded, she left the room.

"Do you think we're pressuring her?" Anakin asked, suddenly feeling another wave of guilt.

Padme considered this. "No, but I think she's feeling a lot of pressure anyway. Don't forget, whatever decision she makes will have an affect on her life as well. If she tells the Council, she may be left without a Master. If she chooses to keep our secret, and it's found out anyway, she may be expelled for keeping information from the Council."

Anakin hadn't thought of that before. He began to get up to go after her, but Padme stopped him. "She needs time, Ani. You hanging over her shoulder isn't going to help her make a decision."

Anakin sat down again. He knew Padme was right, but he had never been a patient man. He hoped Ahsoka would make her choice soon.

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><p>Ahsoka stood on the balcony of Padme's apartment, looking out at the traffic with unseeing eyes. She had been a little surprised at how well Padme had taken the news. Better then Anakin had, anyway. Padme contradicted Anakin's tendency to jump into things with her calm nature. She also didn't share the Jedi Knight's struggle with anger.<p>

_They really are good for one another, _Ahsoka realized. _And I'm thinking of ruining their lives._

Ahsoka decided it was once again a question of whether she cared more for the Jedi Order than her friends. She wanted nothing more than to be a Jedi Knight and Anakin had spent countless hours training her and had said many times that she would be a Knight in only a few years.

But the code strictly stated that Jedi could not form attachments. If she told the Council of Anakin's marriage, she would be doing the right thing- as a Jedi. But not as a friend.

_Forget about the Code. I can't destroy Anakin. _

Ahsoka returned to the living area. Anakin was talking into his comlink.

"...Of course Master. We'll be there as soon as we can." He shut off the comlink and looked up as Ahsoka joined them. "That was Master Windu. They want us to report to the Council at once."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ahsoka said slowly. The Force was as clouded as ever, but she could still sense that something was wrong.

"It'll be fine," Anakin said, but he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Good luck," Padme said as she embraced Anakin. Ahsoka sensed a feeling of peace in her Master that she had never felt before, and it convinced her that she had made the right decision.

"Master... Padme... I know what I'm going to do now," she said.

They both looked over at her, and she sensed that they were trying to hide their nervousness.

"I'm not going to tell the Council," Ahsoka said. "Your secret is safe with me."

Anakin smiled in relief. "Thank you, Snips."

Padme hugged her carefully, avoiding her injury. "I'm sorry you had to be put into that position. But I really am glad that you decided not to tell the Council."

"Don't worry about me," Ahsoka said. She nodded a goodbye, then exited the Senator's apartment.

Anakin joined her in the speeder a few minutes later. "Thank you again," he said as he flew the speeder in the direction of the Temple.

"No need to thank me," Ahsoka said cheerfully. "I do have some conditions, though."

Anakin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I get off meditation for three weeks, and no more wrecking 448," Ahsoka said, hiding her grin. She had sensed for a while that something was wrong with the battle droid, and her suspicions were confirmed when Anakin attempted to look innocent- and failed. "I knew it!"

"It was an accident! And I fixed him!"

"He shouldn't have needed fixing! If you accidentally break him again, I may accidentally tell the Council about your marriage." Ahsoka was teasing, but her Master didn't seem to notice.

"But... that's blackmail! Jedi don't blackmail, Snips!"

Ahsoka simply smirked. "Jedi don't get married either, _Skyguy._"

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><p><strong>I've never written Padme before, so sorry if she seems un-Padme-ish. :)<strong>

**I've read a lot of stories where Ahsoka finds out about their marriage and immediately promises not to tell anyone. That wasn't going to happen here, especially now that Ahsoka is weary of secrets. That's why it took her a little longer to agree to keep their secret.**

**Please reveiw! I would _love_ to get to 300 reveiws for this story! :)**


	20. Restoration

**Well, after several months, we've finally reached the end of Web of Lies. Shoutout time to all my reviewers!**

**Thanks to: livvixx, xander867, jedikim2424, Blackrose, Yksin, a fellow jedi, san davis 687, StarWarsRocksMySocks, Dryadeh, echo4evr, Mastrada101, skywalker02, Mastermind4892, Julia, Jedi knight Niamh Rowa, Avalonyx, StarWarsGirl112, Agent Megas, Ahsoka22, An Ahsoka Tano Fan/Yendor Typho and Pinksaber13, tarooso, Pillow Head D, lionfire42, WolvieGrrl, PenAndInkPrincess, OnixEyes, saneup, Bluesaber3, Marijke, Corporal 'Spider' Hawthorne, PeacefullyCrazy, HisDarkMaterialsrox, Darthraven123, Zorlite, Ahsokasister, Grace Rose Summers, Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay, elle baybee, Cat-501, Angie1018, Braveryx11, BOOM, Jedipadawan123, Ninja Named Steve, NeonColourFox, Cnwriter, swcwahsokachick, Strider1018, lumoscaitlin, Nami-chan, AhsokaLover, Ahsoka2, Alijoe13, shadow rose 2717, Sapphire Jade Eyes, chickenchick, son of wind, Ahsoka-Tano-Padawan, Aay'liah, 01WolfexxMistress10, Kibetha, xxXUnder-YourSkinXxx, storymonster0, vrf, Alexdewar20102010, Padawan-Tane, Too lazy to log in, Nightraze, firehottie and supergirlnatalie97.**

**Wow. That took a while. But thank you all for reviewing! (And thank you lurkers for reading. XD)**

**I've decided against the epilogue, so this will be the final chapter. I hope you enjoy reading!**

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><p>Ahsoka was silent as they entered the Temple. Anakin couldn't tell what she was thinking, but every so often, she would glance his way and he would see that her eyes were full of worry.<p>

"It's going to be okay," he said finally. "They won't expel you, Ahsoka, they can't."

"Right," Ahsoka said, and for a minute, Anakin expected a line like 'And I'm the queen of Mustafar' to follow that. "They can expel me Master, just as easily as they can assign us a mission."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Anakin told her, just as two other Jedi approached them.

"We will escort you to the Council Chambers," the first one said.

"That's won't be nes-" Anakin stopped as he realized why they were there. "She hasn't turned to the dark side She isn't going anywhere."

"Master, it's fine," Ahsoka said. She shot him a sharp look, and he caught on. Raising a fuss over that would put suspicion on both of them. It would be better to play along for now.

The two Jedi stood by the door as Anakin and Ahsoka walked to the centre of the Council Chambers. Jinx was already there, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Thank you for your assistance," Mace told the two other Jedi. "You are dismissed." When they had gone, the Council focused on the Master and Padawan.

"Hmm..." Yoda was staring intently at Ahsoka. "Sense I do, that things are not what they have appeared to be. No darkness, I sense in you, Padawan."

Anakin exchanged a glance with Ahsoka. They had agreed that they would keep nothing from the Council, aside from the Tuskens and Anakin's marriage.

"Ahsoka never turned to the dark side," Anakin said. "She pretended to turn so she could save Padawan Jinx and Master Oki."

"But Oki was killed," Ki-Adi-Mundi stated. Anakin began to explain what had happened, but Kit Fisto interrupted him.

"The boy now has no Master. If the rest of the Council agrees, I would like to take him as my Padawan."

Jinx looked startled, then, as the other Masters voiced their agreement, he smiled and bowed respectfully. Anakin wondered how he could be so calm about it when he had just recently lost his old Master, but realized he and Eekar Oki had only been paired for a few weeks. Jinx would have felt his Master's death much more keenly had they been Master and Padawan for years.

When Jinx had left the Council Chambers, Anakin continued. "Yes, Master Oki died. He was killed by the same Sith who lured us to Korriban. He went by the name Darth Sidious."

Shock rippled through the Force as the Council took in this information.

"Darth Sidious is the same name Count Dooku gave Obi-Wan on Geonosis," Mace Windu said, frowning. "We thought he was lying, but now..."

Had Dooku been telling the truth? Sidious- was that really his name?- and Dooku were obviously working together. Had they invented the shadowy person who controlled the Senate? Or had they actually come face to face with him?

_I wish I could have seen his face._

But there was no point dwelling on what he could have done differently. He had to focus on trying to keep his Padawan in the Order.

"What did he want with your Padawan?" Shaak Ti asked.

Anakin sighed. That was a story he didn't want to repeat. Before he could say anything, Ahsoka spoke up.

"He wanted me as bait for Master Skywalker. I think at first, he may have thought he could turn me to the dark side, but he really just wanted me to set a trap. And that's where Master Oki came in."

Anakin took over. "Sidious knew I was going to Christophsis. He was there when I arrived. When I went to the mine to confront him, he killed Master Oki. Only he did in such a way that he made it look like Ahsoka had done it. I confronted her and we fought. The Sith provoked me and I took my anger out on Ahsoka. I... turned on her and... struck her down. She was killed by the blow."

Anakin had to hand it to the Jedi Masters, they were taking the news well. But then again, he supposed they were used to his unusual stories.

_This isn't unusual- it sounds downright crazy!_

"But here she stands, alive." Mace looked at Ahsoka, then Anakin, as if trying to determine whether or not they were lying.

Ahsoka picked up the story again. "Yes, but only because I was given the choice to come back to the living. The being who gave me my... unique power, the Daughter, enabled me to come back and help Master Skywalker fight the Sith."

"He still got away," Anakin added. It infuriated him- he had had the key to the war in his grasp, and he had slipped away. It suddenly occurred to him that he was standing in a room full of Jedi Masters who could easily sense his anger and pushed it down.

"Why did the Daughter appear to you then, Padawan Tano? Why never before? She could have shown you how to handle that power," Master Eeth Koth said.

_Funny how quickly they've changed their stride, _Anakin mused. _They forbid me to train her, but now they seem to have changed their minds. _He could understand their thinking, though. The Daughter knew what to do with the power, she wouldn't have been playing with fire as Anakin and Ahsoka had done.

Ahsoka shifted on her feet, appearing to have lost some of her confidence. "Actually... it wasn't the first time. She has been training me in my dreams for a while now."

Yoda blinked slowly at her. "Come to the Council with this information, you should have."

"Nobody knew, Master. She forbid me to tell anyone."

Mace Windu activated the holorecording stand to their left. "We would like you to explain something to us." The image flickered to life. "How did you come to learn to use Sith lightning?"

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged looks of shock as their most recent training session played out in front of them. Anakin flinched as he remembered how hard he had been on Ahsoka then. Funny how that seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then.

"Where did you get this recording?" Anakin asked Windu. Who had been spying on their training?

"It was sent to the Council anonymously," the Jedi Master replied. "Please explain what you and your Padawan were doing fighting in an abandoned warehouse."

Anakin was getting a sinking feeling that things weren't looking too good for either of them. "I was training her. I felt she needed to protect herself against the Sith, so-"

"You deliberately disobeyed an order," Windu interrupted, "an order we gave you for a reason. One of the other Padawans has also reported that you were seen in the lower levels of the Temple. You were training her then as well, were you not?"

Anakin simply stood silently. He knew that arguing his case would only make things worse.

But, after more than two years as his Padawan, Ahsoka still hadn't learned to keep her mouth shut in front of the Council. "Masters, I've never used Sith lightning in my life. What you saw was a power that was shown to me by the Daughter. It's called Electric Judgement."

Anakin saw Plo Koon lean forward in interest and felt a flicker of hope. Maybe this would be salvageable after all.

"Hmm," Yoda said. "A very advanced Force power, Electric Judgement is. Handle it, you can, Padawan Tano?"

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka replied, but a few Masters looked doubtful.

"From what I know of Electric Judgement, a child of her age should not be able to handle that power," Master Tinn commented.

Anakin was tempted to roll his eyes. Had they forgotten that Ahsoka was not like the other Padawans? He hoped they wouldn't treat her like such, if they did, she would be expelled for sure.

Plo Koon spoke up. "I disagree. I have used Electric Judgement before, and while it is an advanced Force power, I think Ahsoka could handle it."

This caused the Council to break out in discussion. Ahsoka caught Anakin's eye, and he saw she looked uneasy. He wanted to reassure her, but he knew they would be empty words. Her fate was out of his hands.

"Perhaps a demonstration, Padawan Tano could give," Yoda said at last. "If proof you need that she can handle the power."

Ahsoka frowned. "Right now?"

"Go with you to the training rooms, Master Koon, Master Windu and Master Kenobi will," Yoda said.

Anakin didn't like that idea. Ahsoka was still injured. But he knew she wouldn't let that stop her.

Obi-Wan fell into step beside Anakin as they left the Council Chambers. "Is there anything else you've been keeping secret from me, my former Padawan?"

_You have no idea, _Anakin thought. Obi-Wan continued before he could say anything.

"Tell me more about this Sith Lord. How did you escape him?"

"We didn't escape _him_, he escaped _us,"_ Anakin said. "He had no power anymore, he couldn't have done anything to us, so he ran."

Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean, he had no power anymore? What happened?"

"Have you ever heard of the Wall of Light?"

"Yes, I remember reading about it. Why?" Obi-Wan suddenly looked shocked. "Are you saying-"

Anakin nodded. "Apparently together, we could create a wall strong enough to sever his Force connection. Whether or not he's managed to restore it is the question."

"Anakin, it normally takes a group of Jedi to create the Wall of Light. What you and Ahsoka did... it shouldn't have been possible."

Before Anakin could respond, the door to the training room slid open. Windu, Obi-Wan and Plo Koon stood off to the side as Ahsoka and Anakin walked to the centre of the room. Anakin took a deep breath. What would come next could determine Ahsoka's fate.

* * *

><p>Ahsoka cast a sidelong glace at the three Masters watching them. Master Plo and Master Kenobi would most likely be on her side, but she wasn't sure about Master Windu.<p>

"I'm pretty sure your lightsaber can deflect this lightning as well," she told her Master.

"You're 'pretty sure'? That's reassuring," Anakin said lightly, but he activated his lightsaber.

Ahsoka gathered the Force and stretched out a hand, trying not to think of the three pairs of eyes that were focused on her. The Electric Judgement flew out toward Anakin and he quickly blocked it. Ahsoka reached out her other hand and the lightning flow increased. She found the situation rather ironic. The last time she had used Electric Judgement on her Master, they had been fighting in secret so they wouldn't get in trouble. Now they were fighting in front of the Jedi so she wouldn't be expelled.

Ahsoka could see the effort it was taking Anakin to block the lightning. His blade was slowly being forced backward by the increased pressure of the lightning. She lowered her hands and sparks skittered briefly across the floor before the lightning disappeared. She then turned to face the three Masters.

Master Plo's face was covered by his mask, but she had gotten pretty good at guessing what he was thinking. Right now she suspected he was surprised, yet glad that she could control the lightning. Obi-Wan, she sensed, was not surprised, but interested in the fact that she had beaten Anakin. Mace Windu was completely unreadable.

"Thank you," Windu said. "You are both dismissed. We will send for you when we have reached a decision."

That did little to calm Ahsoka nerves, but she pushed them down and bowed respectfully.

"Come on," Anakin said as the three Masters left the room. "That went well..."

"Are you kidding?" Ahsoka shook her head as they left the training room.

"No. They all seemed pretty impressed." Anakin glanced down at her. "You can fight droids all day long without batting an eye, but you're scared of a Council meeting?"

"I'm not scared." It had been a long time since Ahsoka had been frightened of the Council. _Nervous _would be a better word to describe her.

A door on their left slid open and Ahsoka recognized one of the meditation rooms. "I thought you were going to let me off meditation."

"I never agreed to that," her Master reminded her. "But we won't be meditating. I want to try and get our bond back."

Ahsoka looked at him, surprised. "You can't seriously want to try that mind linking thing again. Remember what happened last time?"

Anakin shrugged and sat down. "Yeah, I remember. I remember that we managed to generate enough power to defeat a Sith lord."

"But y_ou_ could have been the one facing expulsion from the Order. I learned about your marriage from going too deep in your mind."

Anakin sighed. "Do you want to do this or not?"

Ahsoka sat down as well and closed her eyes. She felt a light touch at her mental shields and lowered them. She felt her Master do the same. She hesitated before diving deeper into his mind.

Suddenly, memories that were not her own flooded her mind.

The ship's ramp lowered and a young girl walked out.

"A Youngling?" Obi-Wan wondered out loud.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked.

"I'm Ahsoka," the girl replied. "Master Yoda sent me."

Ahsoka smiled at the memory. She felt a tingling sense in the back of her mind, and the scene switched.

Her younger self sat on the edge of her starfighter as Anakin approached.

Ahsoka remembered the tears she had struggled to hold back as she was reprimanded by her Master for not following orders and losing that squadron in the battle of Ryloth.

"I lost so many of my pilots," the younger Togruta whispered.

Anakin set his hands on her shoulders. "Take heart, little one. That's the reality of command."

The scene switched again. Anakin was was facing Bane while Ahsoka was trapped in an airlock. His face showed indecision as he glanced from the holocron Bane was holding to Ahsoka.

"No, Master! Don't do it!"

Anakin shook his head. "I can't let you die, Ahsoka."

The scenes switched faster and the tingling sense got worse. The Blue Shadow Virus incident flashed through her mind, though it was quickly replaced by her return from Wasskah. Then came Mortis...

Ahsoka remembered the shock she had felt at seeing her Master control the Son and Daughter, along with the sky. It had not really sunk in until then that Anakin was different.

_We both are, _she reflected, then flinched, despite herself, as she saw her dark self snatch the Dagger of Mortis out of the air, then hand it to the Son. She watched herself die, then the Daughter fall. The tingling in her head increased as she watched the Daughter fade and herself glow brighter.

She grinned as she remembered her confusion as Anakin had hugged her. Again, the scene switched to her fighting Dooku on Serenno, then to Christophsis again as Anakin and her other self trapped Sidious in the Wall of Light...

They had been through a lot together. She suddenly realized that their bond wasn't just limited to extra power and the ability to talk to each other through the Force. It had been built on the foundation of trust, and that trust was not gone.

Ahsoka gasped as the tingling reached a maximum and there was a blinding, almost burning flash in her head. She blinked to clear the spots before her eyes and immediately noticed something was different.

_Master? _

She sent the thought at him almost tentatively, afraid that it hadn't worked.

_Well, _came his voice inside her head, _that was... interesting._

Ahsoka smiled in relief. "I can't believe that actually worked," she said. But concern still nagged at her. What if they had got their bond back just for Ahsoka to be expelled from the Order?

Anakin stood up. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Anakin shot her a look.

"I'll take that as a no, then," she said.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan returned to the Council Chambers more than a little torn. Yes, Ahsoka could control the Electric Judgement, but there was still the fact that she had kept secrets from the Council and took on a mission without informing them. Of course, it would have been a little hard to inform the Council with a Sith lord breathing down her neck, but she had put several people at risk by doing what she had done. A Jedi Master had died.<p>

And then there was Anakin. Training his apprentice against the Council's wishes, then going to face a Sith lord and killing his apprentice. Anakin had never been good at controlling his anger, but this was taking it over the top.

He knew that most of the Council had been against Anakin taking an apprentice in the first place, and would use this opportunity to give her a new Master, one they deemed "safer". But Obi-Wan knew that the Force never did anything by accident. It was no accident that Ahsoka had been paired with Anakin, and it was no accident that she had received the Daughter's power. He felt it would be a grave mistake to give Ahsoka a new Master, let alone expel her.

"-she can control the Electric Judgement quite well, but she lets her emotions rule her," Mace Windu concluded.

"This is not her fault, she follows Skywalker's example," Plo Koon stated.

"She is still young," Obi-Wan interjected. "She will learn."

"Unique, this situation is," Yoda said. "Broken rules, Padawan Tano has, yes, but defeated a Sith, she has also. Weigh the good with the bad, we must."

"Nobody is questioning that, Master," Adi Gallia said. "But is Skywalker truly the right Master for Padawan Tano? Skywalker's methods are rather unorthodox, and the girl does not need to learn that."

"Yes," Shaak Ti said, "but his methods are effective. Ahsoka has proven that she can withstand the dark side, even under pressure from an unknown Sith. I think Skywalker has taught her well."

"Still, she has proven what a threat she would be if she had turned to the dark side," Mace Windu said.

"Which is why it is important that we keep her in the Order, away from such things," Koon said.

"What of Skywalker himself?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"Skywalker must stay in the Order," Windu said. "If he really is the Chosen One, we may need him later on."

Obi-Wan felt that was a poor reason, but he didn't say anything.

"We cannot afford to loose either of them, it appears," Stass Allie said. "So the question remains- should we assign Tano a new Master?"

* * *

><p>"Jedi Ahsoka!"<p>

Ahsoka grinned at the sound of the voice of the only battle droid in the Temple. She turned to face 448. Looking him over she raised an eye marking at Anakin when she saw the state the poor droid was in.

_Don't say a word, _he told her silently.

"It's good to see you," she told the battered droid.

_I wish I could say the same, _Anakin thought to her. Ahsoka resisted the urge to smack him. She was pretty sure that would also count as breaking the rules.

_Be quiet, _she thought back. "You look a little... worse for wear," she said to 448.

"No thanks to _him," _448 complained. "Isn't there a law somewhere against assault?"

"Yes, but it doesn't include droids," Anakin informed him, somewhat gleefully. Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Then Anakin's comlink flashed and they both became serious.

"Skywalker here," her Master said in a low voice.

"Please report to the Council immediately," Mace Windu said.

"Yes, Master," Anakin replied, and shut off the comlink.

* * *

><p>Anakin and Ahsoka stood in front of the Council a few minutes later. Anakin could feel anxiety through their bond, and know that the Council could most likely sense it as well.<p>

_Calm down, Snips, _he told her silently.

_Sorry, _she replied. _But what it they expel me? Then we would have gotten our bond back for nothing. _

_Worrying won't change anything._

Yoda began. "Anger, I sense in you, Skywalker. Anxiety, I sense in you, Padawan Tano. Emotions caused by keeping secrets, these are. Lead to the dark side, they can. Secrets, a good idea, they never are."

"Yes, Master," Anakin replied. "But I wanted to protect Ahsoka from a very large threat. Teaching her to use the Force to the highest level was the only way to do that."

"Protect her, did these teachings?" Yoda asked. Anakin didn't respond. He knew what the answer was. He hadn't protected her, he had put her in greater danger.

_But Yoda didn't call us here for a lesson on the dark side._

"There is something we'd like to ask you, Padawan Tano," Adi Gallia said. "Would you agree to having a new Master?"

Ahsoka's expression was so comically shocked that Anakin nearly laughed.

_How can they even __**ask **__that? _Ahsoka hissed silently.

_You'd better tell them something._

Ahsoka remained calm as she spoke. "No Master, I wouldn't. As far as I can remember, Padawans only receive new Masters if their Masters are killed. I don't need a new Master."

"Padawans also receive new Masters if their Masters cannot teach them properly," Ki-Adi-Mundi reminded her.

"Master Skywalker is a fine teacher," Ahsoka said in a way that Anakin knew meant she was trying to quell her anger. He had to admit, that was a blow to his pride. They had practically forced Anakin to take on Ahsoka as an apprentice, now they wanted to give her a new Master?

Windu nodded. "Alright. But consider this a warning. If anything like this happens again, you will receive punishment."

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged a look. They were getting off completely free?

Obi-Wan quickly put an end to that hope. "Of course, each of you will spend two hours of meditation with Master Yoda every day when you are not in the field."

_He's got to be kidding, _Ahsoka thought to him.

_Be glad that's all it is, _Anakin thought back. "Masters, will Ahsoka be allowed to use her power?"

Yoda nodded. "Earned the right to use it, she has."

Anakin personally thought she had earned the right to use it a long time ago, but didn't say anything.

"You are dismissed," Windu announced. Anakin and Ahsoka bowed respectfully, then left the Council Chambers.

* * *

><p>Sidious scowled as he read the report. According to his contact, Tano hadn't been punished, let alone expelled from the Order. He hadn't anticipated this. Quickly, he released his anger into the Force.<p>

Still, this wasn't a total failure. He had learned a great deal about both Skywalker and his apprentice. Skywalker would turn in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone close to him and Tano was too overconfident for her own good.

Yes, this would possibly work toward his advantage when the time came to execute his master plan.

* * *

><p>Ahsoka lay on her bed, thinking over the past few days. She had learned a lot. Her abilities were not as trustworthy as she had once thought, and she was a victim of overconfidence.<p>

Her door slid open and Anakin entered. "Good, you're awake."

"There's this neat thing, it's called knocking," Ahsoka grumbled, sitting up.

Anakin had the decency to look shamefaced. "I've been thinking a lot about what Yoda said earlier about how nothing I taught you protected you."

Ahsoka held up her hand. "If you're going on a guilt trip, do it somewhere else. I'm tired of lies."

"What?"

"Do you know what kept me from falling to the dark side while I was on Korriban?"

Ahsoka was rewarded with a quizzical look.

"Hope. Hope that you would take me back as an apprentice. Hope that I could save you from falling to the dark side. So don't feel guilty for not protecting me, because in a way, you did."

Anakin looked surprised. "You sound like Obi-Wan."

"Thank you for the compliment," Ahsoka joked.

Anakin started for the door again. "You should get some rest. I know you aren't fully healed yet."

Ahsoka fixed him with a sharp look. "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not a Youngling?"

"No," Anakin said cheerfully. Ahsoka tried to think of a witty comeback, but she was too tired.

"Goodnight, Master."

"Goodnight," he said. He paused at the door, then came back to her. "I think this belongs to you." He held out her Padawan braid.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said, fastening it to the back of her montrals. Anakin nodded and left her room.

For the first time in a long time, Ahsoka slept a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>The End. <strong>

**Well, I hope you enjoyed reading Web of Lies! No, there will not be a sequel, but I have a new story in mind that will be up in a few weeks. ****Please review, even if you haven't done so yet! I'd love to know what you thought of my story!**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~Inksaber :)**


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